'Arisan' takes major honors at film festival

Hera Diani and Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The critically acclaimed comedy of manners Arisan swept best picture and most of the major acting awards at the Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) on Saturday night, held for the first time in 12 years.

Tora Sudiro was named best actor for his performance in Arisan as a gay man inching his way out of the closet, while Surya Saputra took the best supporting actor honors in the same film.

Rachel Maryam brought another honor for the movie, winning best supporting actress for her role as a girl from the sticks who knows more than she lets on.

Dian Sastrowardoyo avoided an Arisan shutout in the acting categories, winning the best actress award for Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?. Best director honors went to Rudy Soedjarwo for the same movie.

Among the other awards presented at Dunia Fantasi in Ancol, North Jakarta, were to the husband and wife musical team of Anto Hoed and Melly Goeslaw for best film score (Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?)and M. Aprisiyanto for best short film for Djedjak Darah: Surat Teruntuk Adinda (Trace of Blood: A Letter to My Lady), the story of a shadow puppeteer accused of being a communist.

Unfortunately, some of the most important categories, such as best cinematography and screenplay, were not included on the live TV broadcast, but presented instead during the commercial break.

"This is proof that film has been taken over by the stupidity of television," said Riri Riza, who shared the best screenplay award with Prima Rusdi for Eliana-Eliana, in a stinging rebuke of the organizers.

FFI's revival comes in tandem with increased local film production in recent years. From just one film released in 2000, 13 were made in 2003 and 18 this year.

Nominations for this year's awards spanned 2000-2004.

Although it had been staged once in the 1950s and 1960s respectively, FFI became a fixture on the film community's calendar from 1973, with glittering ceremonies in which the Citra awards were presented for acting, directing and other filmmaking categories.

The most successful winners over the years were actress Christine Hakim and director Teguh Karya, both of whom won six Citras.

But local film production petered to a halt by the early 1990s due to the stranglehold of Hollywood movies in local theaters, and the last FFI was held in 1992.