Censor board receives sharp criticism from House members<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Institute of Film Censorship was strongly
\ncriticized during a hearing with the House of Representatives on
\nWednesday, with legislators accusing it of being lax,
\nparticularly toward films shown on television.<\/p>\n
Members of the House Commission I for foreign affairs, defense
\nand information told institute's officials that many of the films
\nshown on local TV still contained too \"much violence and
\npornography\".<\/p>\n
They also said that many of the films passed by the censorship
\nboard \"were not educative\" and \"went against the nation's
\ncultural values\".<\/p>\n
Executives of the Advisory Board for National Films were not
\nspared the House's wrath during the joint hearing.<\/p>\n
Ali Rasyidi, a Golkar member who chaired the hearing, said the
\n\"violence and pornography\" shown in the films that passed the
\ncensors have strongly influenced Indonesian's behavior.<\/p>\n
He attributed the increase in rapes and other forms of
\nbrutality in Indonesia to the influence of films and television.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
\ncriticized telenovelas, the Latin American soap operas that are
\ngaining popularity among Indonesian television viewers.<\/p>\n
B.N. Marbun said these Latin dramas undermine the development
\nand conservation of the nation's traditional values.<\/p>\n
He said screening telenovelas doesn't follow the spirit of the
\n1992 Film Law. The law underlines the need to promote national
\nculture.<\/p>\n
Marbun pointed out that private television networks show
\nimported programs at the expense of local shows.<\/p>\n
Sophan Sophiaan, a film star and PDI member, questioned the
\nprofessional capability of the institute in screening films that
\nuse languages other than English as shown in the way it passed
\nthe telenovelas.<\/p>\n
The Latin drama has been dubbed into Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"How can we expect the institute to work well if most of its
\nmembers cannot speak English, Chinese and Spanish well,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Marbun called on big businesses to invest in producing local
\nfilms to help fight the domination of foreign films.<\/p>\n
\"Producing national films should be a promising business
\nprospect because of the sheer number of potential viewers,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Advisory Board Chairman Johan Tjasmadi told the hearing that
\nhe has complained to the government about violations by TV
\nstations, but not action has been taken. (rms)<\/p>",
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