Tintin moves between continents<\/p>\n
Zora Rahman, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
First-grade students at Allermoehe junior high school, Hamburg,
\nGermany, will probably not easily forget the Indonesian guest who
\ndropped by last month: Maria Clementine "Tintin" Wulia.<\/p>\n
There, the architect, film music composer, short film director
\nand lover of children made use of her stay at the International
\nShort Film Festival Hamburg in June, and asked for an animation
\nworkshop with the German schoolkids.<\/p>\n
The result was a short animated film about a Hamburg boy who
\nfalls asleep in a train on the way to school. When he wakes up
\nmuch later, he feels very hot and hears strange voices: The sign
\nin the station shows that he has arrived in Bajawa, Flores.<\/p>\n
"This idea developed in its own way because of the children's
\nspontaneous fantasy when I told them about their contemporaries
\nin Flores," Tintin Wulia said. "It might now become an
\nintercultural bridge between the kids here and there."<\/p>\n
Bajawa is where the multitalented Balinese is currently
\nworking as a video specialist for the Nusa Tenggara Timur Primary
\nEducation Partnership (NTTPEP), an initiative funded by the
\nAustralian government with the aim of improving teaching
\ntechniques at primary schools in East Nusa Tenggara province.<\/p>\n
"We must prompt the children to think critically -- short
\nfilms are a very suitable medium to stimulate this," Tintin said.
\n"We should made use of this and not just leave films as a product
\nfor passive consumption."<\/p>\n
Thirty-year-old Tintin took a roundabout way to becoming a
\nfilmmaker. She studied architecture in Bandung and film music in
\nBoston. While working for a multimedia agency in the U.S., she
\nwas introduced to the basics of filmmaking and started shooting
\nfor herself.<\/p>\n
Returning to Indonesia in 1998, the difficult economic and
\npolitical situation meant that Tintin still could not focus on
\nfilms yet. So she started working on TV ads, composing the music
\nfor spots and trailers. By 2000, she had accumulated such a huge
\nstock of private footage that she felt she would have to do
\nsomething with it -- if only to satisfy herself.<\/p>\n
There was a quick response: Her experimental film Violence
\nAgainst Fruit, inspired by the May 1998 riots, was given an award
\nat the Indonesian Independent Film and Video Festival (FFVII)
\n2000 and since then has been shown at several international film
\nfestivals.<\/p>\n
The three-minute short shows the cutting of a kaki fruit in
\nclose-up after it has been unwrapped from its Chinese packaging.
\nIn the background, two voices discuss cruelty to animals. There
\nis no complicated technology, no political discussion, but the
\nmessage is clear: "Sit back, relax and enjoy the massacre in
\nfront of your eyes," says Tintin in the introduction to her film.<\/p>\n
But the director who dared to take such a cynical look at the
\nawful happenings five years ago -- herself of Chinese origin --
\ndoes not want to be perceived as politically motivated.<\/p>\n
"I don't really want to make political statements; ultimately,
\nI also don't know the one and only proper way," Tintin said. "I'm
\nrather interested in human and social impacts."<\/p>\n
Tintin's most successful film so far is Ketok (Knock),
\nproduced in 2002. The short documentary tells the story of her
\nparents' experience with a mysterious knocking, when they moved
\ninto a new house. Using very simple methods, including crayon
\ndrawings, shadows and photo collages, the filmmaker continues in
\nthe tradition of story-telling without resorting to high-tech
\ntricks.<\/p>\n
It is a piece of work being honored at several events: Ketok
\nwas the best film at the FFVII 2002, was nominated for the Silver
\nScreen Award at Singapore and received a special mention at the
\nInternational Short Film Festival Hamburg 2003.<\/p>\n
Tintin's parents, whose voices are used in the film, were
\nreally surprised at its success: They have never really
\nunderstood their daughter's engagement, in which she even shoots
\nor edits films while relaxing. Nevertheless, they have never
\nhindered her -- quite the opposite -- they even supported her in
\nbuilding a film community at the parental music school in
\nDenpasar in 2001.<\/p>\n
So Minikino was born. Inspired by the repertory cinemas Tintin
\nsaw during a journey to Australia in 2001, twice a month it shows
\na selected short film program.<\/p>\n
"We focus on short films, because they are more pithy and
\neasier to discuss afterwards than full-length feature films," she
\nsaid. "But our program could be extended by films that do not
\nbenefit from any other distribution."<\/p>\n
Minikino, which started with a handful of friends from Bali,
\nhas already grown into a respectable network. After hosting some
\ninternational films at Denpasar, the program is now also shown
\nonce a month at Oktagon gallery, Jakarta. Communities in Bandung
\nand Yogyakarta are interested in becoming partners, as well as
\nthe QB bookshop chain.<\/p>\n
Following the good response to her films at several festivals,
\nand the extension of Minikino, Tintin has hardly any private time
\nleft anymore. "Sometimes I wish I had a more settled life," she
\nsaid, "but if I stay too long in one place, I get itchy feet and
\nwant to move on again."<\/p>\n
She will have the chance to move a lot in the near future,
\nhaving been invited by film festivals in Australia, France,
\nTaiwan and the U.S.<\/p>\n
"I would like to seize the opportunity offered by these
\ninvitations and intensify my intercultural work. I dreamed before
\nas a child of one unified world, where people from everywhere
\nshare mutual relations and live in peace with each other."<\/p>\n
As a first step, the "children freak" wants to establish
\nintercultural relations between the kids in Hamburg and Flores:
\nWith another animation workshop planned with pupils in Bajawa,
\nshe aims to continue the intercontinental story.<\/p>\n
"Ideally, the Hamburg boy acquires a friend in Flores and
\ntravels to Darwin next September."<\/p>",
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