RI students go it alone to make movie<\/p>\n
Prapti Widinugraheni, Contributor, Perth, Australia<\/p>\n
A group of Indonesian students here have made their mark on the
\nfilmmaking scene, proving that good ideas and hard work are
\nreally what make a fine movie.<\/p>\n
Pelangi di Atas Prahara (A Rainbow over Catastrophe), a 90-
\nminute film in the teen-pop genre, had its premier here two weeks
\nago.<\/p>\n
Featuring the love-hate relationship between two Indonesian
\nstudents studying in Perth, Andara (Wannahari Harahap) and Arman
\n(Panji Wiseso), the movie portrays Indonesian student life
\noverseas: days and nights of computer gazing, mingling among
\nfellow Indonesians and, ultimately, having the freedom that comes
\nwith living far from home.<\/p>\n
Andara, mysterious and aloof, is new to the city while Arman,
\nstruggling to finish his studies, is interested only in
\nphotography.<\/p>\n
For Andara, being in a foreign land allows her to escape a
\nnightmarish past. For Arman, it is a chance to indulge in a hobby
\nand ignore his father's wishes.<\/p>\n
And for everyone else, it is simply an opportunity for non-
\nstop exploration of the World Wide Web.<\/p>\n
A course assignment pairs off Andara and Arman. Having to work
\nregularly together, they eventually become friends, learn to
\n"look deeper" and help each other come to terms with their
\npersonal trials and tribulations.<\/p>\n
Although Pelangi is simple and has a somewhat predictable
\nplot, the scenes are crisp, the actors convincing and the comedy
\nwitty. And it has all the ingredients essential to a good teen
\nflick: trendy-looking young people speaking Jakarta slang, a good
\nbalance between soppy romance and comedy and a soundtrack fit for
\nevery teenage palate -- from romantic ballads to heavy metal,
\nfrom pop music to jazzy tunes.<\/p>\n
It also comes with English subtitles and a soundtrack CD.<\/p>\n
In short, Pelangi has everything one would expect from a film
\nmade by professionals with plenty of experience. Except the
\nmakers are anything but professional and experienced.<\/p>\n
The people involved in the making of the movie, from the
\ndirector to the musicians, are all tertiary-level students based
\nin Perth. They belong to a group called SUB Production whose
\nactivities -- until this movie was made -- seldom went beyond
\norganizing sports tournaments and music events.<\/p>\n
Director Putra Arradin, a long-time member of SUB Production,
\nsaid the idea to make a movie came up one day out of the blue.
\nThe group's members simply wanted to do something different.<\/p>\n
"At first people were unconvinced. Eventually, they warmed up
\nto the idea; as we went along, more and more people started
\nbelieving in it," he said.<\/p>\n
"That," he added, "was eleven months ago."<\/p>\n
The movie, it was decided, was to be a labor of love. Three
\nteams compiled the script, friends and SUB Production members did
\nhomemade recordings of the soundtrack, Curtin University's School
\nof Film and Television lent film equipment and various sponsors
\nprovided funding.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five members of SUB Production were directly involved
\nin the filming, only three of whom were undertaking courses
\nrelated to filmmaking.<\/p>\n
The movie's unit production manager, Yunita Nalapraya, said
\ncasting for the two lead roles proved difficult, although that
\nwas not the biggest issue.<\/p>\n
"It was hard to get people who'd agree to stay in Perth during
\nthe (winter) holidays for the filming," she said.<\/p>\n
Eventually they managed to assemble a fully committed team.
\nProduction started in mid-May and ended in September. Shooting
\nwas crammed into 40 days -- between July and early August -- with
\nthe crew working 18 hours a day.<\/p>\n
"The difficultly was not in the technicalities or the shooting
\nof the film -- that was merely exhausting. The hardest part was
\nbringing things together and convincing people to trust and to
\nstick to us despite the fact that none of us had ever made a
\nmovie," said Putra, who is doing his final semester for his
\nmaster's in film and television at Curtin University of
\nTechnology.<\/p>\n
"If I told someone to act a certain way and there were 15
\npeople on the set, then there would immediately be 15 different
\nopinions as to how it should be done another way. If we had
\nallowed this to keep happening, there wouldn't have been a movie
\ntoday."<\/p>\n
The premier screening was held in one of Curtin University's
\nlecture halls. The crew -- actors, technicians and producers --
\nwere there to watch it along with friends and lecturers.<\/p>\n
Asked when Pelangi would be screened back home, Putra said SUB
\nProduction had decided to wait and see.<\/p>\n
He explained that the story -- revolving around a homemade
\nsexually explicit video that falls into public hands and
\ninevitably gets widely distributed -- was inspired by a real
\nevent that happened several years ago in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"This movie is siding with the victim. It challenges people to
\ntake a deeper look at things and to understand that different
\npeople have different circumstances and personal problems. I
\nwanted the movie to be 'heavy' but not too heavy," Putra said.<\/p>\n
A light, not too thought-provoking movie, would no doubt
\nappeal to the Indonesian masses; in this sense, SUB Production
\nhas made a smart first step.<\/p>\n
But, as Putra pointed out, the culturally sensitive topic of
\n"porn" (and, perhaps, of not condemning it outright) might get
\nPelangi into serious trouble if it were to pass the sensors in
\nIndonesia one day.<\/p>\n
"We'll just wait and see the responses to our film. So far,
\nwe've had requests to screen the movie from Indonesian student
\ncommunities in other Australian cities, as well as in New Zealand
\nand America, so it's been positive. Rumors about the movie have
\nalso reached Jakarta and many of our friends are interested in
\nit," he said.<\/p>\n
He stressed that SUB Production would only be prepared to take
\nthe big leap to home turf after getting plenty of feedback -- and
\nmaking the necessary changes for Pelangi to be socially
\nacceptable in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Until then, Indonesian viewers will miss out on a great
\nindependent movie with undisputed mass appeal.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-students-go-it-alone-to-make-movie-1447893297",
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