Tight competition in 'sinetron' festival<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A young village woman, dying from hemorrhaging
\nduring childbirth, is stared at by her dumbfounded husband,
\nrendered inert by his own insecurities.<\/p>\n
The scene from the television drama, Perkawinan Siti Zubaedah,
\n(The Marriage Of Siti Zubaedah) fuses tragedy and bravura acting
\nwith the immediacy of real life, part of a well-crafted work by
\nveteran director Teguh Karya.<\/p>\n
The teleserial, which are known locally as sinetron, focuses
\non Siti Zubaedah (Ayu Azhari), who suffers because of her
\nindifferent husband, Kodjat alias Bewok, (Alex Komang).<\/p>\n
It is a strong contender to grab the prize for best television
\ndrama at the coming Festival Sinetron Indonesia (FSI), the
\nIndonesian version of the Emmys, at the Jakarta Hilton Convention
\nCenter on the evening of Dec. 4.<\/p>\n
In its fifth edition, the annual festival has become an outlet
\nfor the film and TV communities to show their talent after the
\nfilm awards were discontinued in 1991 on the back of slumping box
\noffice receipts.<\/p>\n
Perkawinan Siti Zubaedah received seven nominations, including
\nbest television drama, best director (Teguh Karya), best actress
\n(Ayu Azhari), best supporting actor (Jedi Saputra) and best music
\n(Djadjuk Ferianto).<\/p>\n
Despite a critical beating on the abysmal quality of many of
\nthe local TV productions, this year's jury members in the fiction
\ncategory -- George Kamarullah, Zoraya Perucha, Gatot Sudharto,
\nPandu Putra Danandjaya, D.J. Nawi, Titie Said and Noorca M.
\nMassardi-- managed to fulfill the festival's ambitious goal to
\nbecome a barometer for the national teleserial industry.<\/p>\n
Squeezed from 134 titles and 800 episodes, five shows were
\nselected in each of the three categories -- TV drama, drama
\nserials and comedies.<\/p>\n
In the drama category, Perkawinan Siti Zubaedah will face
\nstiff competition from works of younger directors, including
\nGarin Nugroho's Angin Rumput Savana (Wind of the Savanna Grass),
\nIndra Gunawan's Bapak (Father), Yossie Enes' Menyusuri Bayangan
\nDiri (Following One's Own Shadow) and Hanny Saputra's
\nSepanjang Jalan Kenangan (Down Memory Lane).<\/p>\n
Nominees for drama serials are an exceptional crop. Jajang C.
\nNoer's debut, Bukan Perempuan Biasa (No Ordinary Woman), goes up
\nagainst Ahmad Yusuf's Abad 21 (The 21st Century), Rano Karno's Si
\nDoel Anak Sekolahan III, Yonggi Sihombing's Karenina and Ismail
\nSoebardjo's Tirai Kasih Yang Terkoyak (Torn Curtain of Love).<\/p>\n
\"People\" fare like Didi Petet's Si Kabayan, Husein Kusuma's
\nFatima and Deddy Mizwar's Mat Angin lead in the comedy category.<\/p>\n
Judging<\/p>\n
Television observer Syamsudin N. Moenadi said judging of the
\nbest teleserials at the FSI could go one of two ways.<\/p>\n
\"It could either go by the standards outlined in the jury-
\nmember 'blueprint' -- educative and entertaining social-oriented
\nsinetron -- or those that are considered well-produced multimedia
\nsinetron,\" explained Syamsudin, a juror at the 1994 FSI.<\/p>\n
He said that if jurors went by the book, they would bestow the
\naward on a show which explores a current social problem, and does
\nit analytically and objectively.<\/p>\n
Teleserial critic Veven SP Wardhana shared Syamsudin's view.
\nIn his book, Kapitalisme Televisi dan Strategi Budaya Masa
\n(Television Capitalism and the Mass Culture Strategy), Veven
\nwrote that FSI's jury members have always been generous to
\n\"people pictures\".<\/p>\n
He said juries preferred down-to-earth sinetron in more
\nserious genres to those with spectacular fantasy, glamor or cheap
\ncomedies, the ingredients for commercially successful
\nteleserials.<\/p>\n
\"Award-winning serials in previous years were those which
\ndealt with topical problems in the society,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
List of winners from recent years bear him out. Irwinsyah's
\nAksara Tanpa Kata (Silent Word, 1992), Menghitung Hari (Counting
\nthe Days, 1995) and last year's winner, Vonis Kepagian (Premature
\nVerdict), were all packed with social criticism.<\/p>\n
The jury picks for this year's nominations continued to follow
\nthe \"blueprint\".<\/p>\n
All sinetron nominated in the drama category concern intense
\nsocial issues.<\/p>\n
Angin Rumput Savannah is about a doctor who comes back to her
\nhomeland and faces the stifling conventions of traditional life.<\/p>\n
In the drama, Garin tries to subtly convey the message of
\nrisks in childbirth.<\/p>\n
In Menyusuri Bayangan Diri, Yossie Enes portrays the life of
\nRobot Gedek, the notorious serial killer of young boys.<\/p>\n
The production not only tries to depict the story objectively,
\nbut provides an incisive look into Robot's early life. It also
\nmanages to entertain from the tragic and grisly tale.<\/p>\n
Sepanjang Jalan Kenangan (Down Memory Lane) is a chilling,
\nravishingly shot thriller about a psychotic who missed out on
\nparental love. He never learned what it is to be human and to
\nhave compassion and empathy for others.<\/p>\n
The drama, both in storyline and camera angles, is something
\nout of the ordinary for Indonesian audiences.<\/p>\n
Bapak, (Father), deals with the struggle of a convict father
\nto win back his daughter's love and trust.<\/p>\n
Multimedia<\/p>\n
Syamsudin added jurors could also go by the \"multimedia-new-
\ngeneration\" concept.<\/p>\n
The emergence of a new breed of intellectual directors has
\nresulted in production of challenging and stimulating films.
\nHanny Saputra, who made his debut with Sepanjang, and Garin are
\nrepresentative.<\/p>\n
\"I personally would go for Hanny Saputra,\" Syamsudin said. \"He
\ndefines the social problem with excellent technological work. He
\nplays with colors like no other director in the list.<\/p>\n
\"Menyusuri Bayangan Diri might win because it deals with a
\nsocial problem that happened recently. The wounds of the masses
\nover this one are still fresh.\"<\/p>\n
Apart from Hanny, Garin is the only director to have given
\npainstaking detail to technique, color and cinematography.<\/p>\n
\"Imagine using Electronic News Gathering (ENG) and coming up
\nwith a production that looks like pure celluloid (used for
\nmovies),\" Syamsudin said.<\/p>\n
He added Garin was known to go all out in his productions.<\/p>\n
\"He literally measures the time when the first rays of the sun
\nwill hit the ground. His management sense and technology know-how
\nis remarkable.<\/p>\n
\"While others depend on intuition, his strength lies in his
\nintellectual prowess. It is like Chen Kaige's Farewell My
\nConcubine. Good content and excellent picturization. To me, that
\nis quality defined by FSI standards.\"<\/p>\n
Garin once said that he never set out to win plaudits.<\/p>\n
\"Everytime I make a film, I will put all my energy and all-out
\nefforts to create a good result. In making this television
\nproduction (Angin Rumput Savanna), I spent months doing research
\nbefore coming up with a total concept.\"<\/p>\n
Teguh Karya also downplayed the pursuit of honors.<\/p>\n
\"In my television works, I use my true emotions and my
\nskills.. to come up with something creative.. not something too
\nsomber which will force people to switch channels, or something
\ntoo entertaining in which the content is lost.\"<\/p>\n
Ishadi S.K, operation director of TPI, said the criteria for
\nthe best teleserial was set by the jury and panel members of the
\nfestival.<\/p>\n
\"There are no right or wrong sinetron and, anyway, who are we
\nto judge. It's either the audience or the festival juries.\"<\/p>\n
Entertainment mogul Raam Punjabi, whose productions include
\nBukan Perempuan Biasa and Abad 21, was concerned that Jajang --
\nwidow of the late filmmaker Arifin C. Noer -- was passed over for
\na best director nomination for Bukan Perempuan Biasa.<\/p>\n
\"I feel that Jajang not being nominated is a bit weird. It's
\nlike the dish being nominated for the best dish category, but the
\ncook was left out.\"<\/p>\n
But Raam, with a roster of successful teleserials to his name,
\nhas little else to complain about. He feels that he knows what
\nthe masses want and is delivering \"just that and more\".<\/p>\n
\"For me, the festival has not yet functioned as the barometer
\nof the sinetron industry. But it is a motivating force that
\npushes artists to create better quality teleserials.\" (raw\/02)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tight-competition-in-sinetron-festival-1447893297",
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