Farocki keeps distance from his films' characters<\/p>\n
John Badalu, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Speaking to German filmmaker Harun Farocki is easy. Despite his
\nstatus as one of the pioneers in the art of documentary
\nfilmmaking in his country, he is down-to-earth. There are hints
\nof his impressive intellect in his conversation, but he is far
\nfrom pretentious.<\/p>\n
For a moment, he reminisced about the five years he spent in
\nIndonesia as a child, especially in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"I still remember what the streets looked like, how people
\nmoved and the smell of the city,\" said the Czech-born director,
\nwhose father is Indian and mother German.<\/p>\n
Farocki was here recently to give a seminar for young
\nIndonesian documentary filmmakers, an event that was sponsored by
\nGoethe-Institut and the Masyarakat Mandiri Foundation.<\/p>\n
\"I realize that a lot of Indonesians don't understand my
\nfilms. I guess this is due to the lack of knowledge of the films.
\nIt's a matter of time and technology, but they will catch up in
\nthe near future,\" said Farocki, who declined to give his age.<\/p>\n
Farocki has an arbitrary approach to filmmaking, as seen in
\n1988's The Images of the World and the Inscription of War, where
\nhe put together dozens of aerial photos from World War II.<\/p>\n
The indistinct photos merge to become images that are open to
\ndifferent interpretations by different audiences.<\/p>\n
With 88 films to his credit, Farocki focuses on social and
\npolitical issues from a subjective point of view. Such an
\napproach to filmmaking does not offer any solutions, but it is
\nmorally challenging and evokes questions within the audience.<\/p>\n
This unusual approach results in difficulties in financing his
\nfilms and distributing them, earning him the title of \"guerrilla
\nfilmmaker\".<\/p>\n
Farocki chose to study filmmaking when the film academy in
\nBerlin had just opened and most young Germans wanted fast
\nfeedback. Only a few of his 88 works are features, and the rest
\nare documentaries.<\/p>\n
\"I chose documentary because I can express myself more through
\nthis medium. Maybe I will make feature films, but I think I will
\ncollaborate with other (filmmakers),\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to Farocki, some 20 years ago in Germany there was
\nan abundance of money, talent and resources in the film industry.
\nBut in the past 10 years, it has gotten harder and harder to
\nraise funds.<\/p>\n
\"The TV industry has become very commercial and sucked all
\n(the money) up. With less resources, the filmmakers have to find
\na way out. At the same time, the art field is expanding. Now
\ncinemas are not the only place where you can watch films. Museums
\nand other arts spaces are opening their doors for film
\nscreenings, underground cinema clubs are mushrooming in every
\ncorner of cities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Filmmaking in Germany, he added, is also developing toward a
\nnew form, as the intellectual atmosphere is becoming more charged
\nand a cross-knowledge with other arts is happening.<\/p>\n
\"The field of arts is also becoming more and more
\nheterogeneous with different groups of interest. Some art forms
\nare blending nicely. A more advanced theory about urbanism is
\nacknowledged by young filmmakers. It's an amazing process to
\nwatch all this happening,\" said Farocki, who has also been a
\nregular guest lecturer at the University of California at
\nBerkeley in the United States for the past 10 years.<\/p>\n
Farocki's style is now becoming more unique, as he reads
\nfootage in a different way and moves into extremes. He always
\ntries to keep a distance from the characters in his films.<\/p>\n
He is influenced in a number of ways by Goddard's films, which
\nhe finds to have a great deal of cinematographic beauty.<\/p>\n
Right now he is preparing a new film about smart weapons,
\nwhich is a continuation of his latest film Eye\/Machine screened
\nat the recent Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest).<\/p>\n
The film is about Farocki's prediction that technology will
\ncontinue to move toward what he calls \"dimassivication\".<\/p>\n
\"Dimassivication means reducing massive products into more
\ncustom-made ones. In America, the marginality of culture is
\ngetting bigger and bigger, so it creates huge subcultures. These
\nsubcultures are becoming the main culture of America. I'm sure
\nthat many products will be adjusted and have to become custom-
\nmade to meet each subculture's needs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
With an Indian father and German mother, and having lived
\nabroad for much of his life, Farocki is rich in cross-cultural
\nunderstanding.<\/p>\n
This is the first time he has returned to Indonesia and he is
\ndetermined to relearn the cultural aspects of the country. He is
\nreading a book by Pramoedya Ananta Toer and is looking for Max
\nHavelaar's Saidjah and Adinda.<\/p>\n
Farocki also was here to offer and propose different
\napproaches that will lead to new forms of expression. How this
\nworks in the lab environment is to throw ideas out and make
\nsketches of them in an arbitrary way.<\/p>\n
Although he is very positive about the seminar, he thinks the
\nexoticism in the themes of local films here is a bit too much.<\/p>\n
\"Most of these young filmmakers want to make a film about some
\nstrange tribes on remote islands and places, but actually simple
\ndaily lives can be a strong topic too. So many things in daily
\nlife are not studied in detail here,\" Farocki said.<\/p>\n
We can only hope his presence will enrich young Indonesian
\ndocumentary filmmakers and help them make quality films.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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