Audiences have a blast at ITB film theater

By Joko E.H. Anwar

BANDUNG (JP): A number of young people here prefer to spend their Saturday nights at a modest movie theater. They have a blast, cheering, clapping and booing in the tradition of camp movies. The only things missing are water pistols and popcorn.

It was 7 p.m. last Saturday in the city of flowers. While many movie fans were queuing to buy tickets at regular movie cineplexes, some, mainly university students, were standing in line to get tickets at a small theater at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

During the day, the 20- by 15-meter theater, run by the Student Film League (LFM), is used as a classroom. An unusually large whiteboard is used as the movie screen. The seats are comprised of several long benches with tables, and are, understandably, not numbered.

After buying the Rp 1,000 (11 U.S. cents) tickets, the cheapest in the city, from a standing student who was assigned a ticket seller that night -- there is no box office in this theater -- visitors began to enter the room.

"I've already seen this film. I'm here just for the fun," one of the queuing students said.

After several minutes, music from a Violent Femmes album stopped and the fun the student was talking about began.

Maximum viewing pleasure at this theater requires audience participation.

When the film began, the students clapped their hands cheerfully. Nobody complained, of course, because everybody was doing the same thing.

Despite the fact that the movie, The Bone Collector, is not exactly a camp movie, the audience always found something to cheer about. When the hero appeared, they clapped their hands. And when the beautiful co-star, Anjelina Jolie, appeared on the screen for the first time, the male contingent woof-whistled.

In the middle of the show, the film stopped. This is the most important time, when members of the audience shout and bang the tables.

The students were not exactly disappointed with the poor quality of the film projection because that is also part of the fun.

"The lower wheel (which winds the film) doesn't spin at the same speed as the upper one," projectionist Hamdani, a student, said of one of the two projectors used at the theater.

"So I have to watch the wheels, otherwise the film will spill all over the floor," he added, giggling.

LFM member Sigid Prasetyo said that they bought the projectors in 1996 for Rp 4 million each to replace the old one which had not been operating well.

"We got it from a man who supplied film projectors to small movie theaters in some villages," another LFM member, Alia Lesmana, added.

LFM member Nina Dwi Handayani said the projectors used by the student theater were different from those used in regular theaters in the city.

"Ours is smaller and everything must be done manually," Nina said.

Despite all the shortcomings at the theater, the audiences never complain.

"It's so much fun going to the theater. I mean, where else can you go to a movie cinema where you can totally express you emotion throughout the film. We can clap our hands, cheer, make Mexican waves and bang on tables. In fact, where else can you find a cinema that has tables?" a student of mechanics at ITB, Dymas Maula, said happily.

"If I want to kill stress, I'll watch a movie at the student theater," Dymas added.

Audiences are made up of students from several universities in the city and locals who live near to the theater.

Sigid said that the LFM had been showing movies since 1957.

"If I'm not mistaken, senior students got the first film projector from the U.S. embassy," Sigid said.

Sigid said that LFM rented films from PT Kharisma Jabar Film, which distributes films in West Java.

"We used to share our revenue with the company until about two years ago. At that time, we used to have more than 300 people at every show," Sigid said, adding that audience numbers had decreased slightly.

"We now have to rent the films for Rp 50,000 each, because the company doesn't want to take any less," Sigid said.

Head of LFM Widyarani said the club used to have only one show, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 7 p.m.

"But now we have two shows a day. With this strategy, we can get more people to come," Widyarani said.

People can watch films at 3:30 p.m. or 7:15 p.m.

The theater is often used as a venue to show films at special events.

Last year, it was used to screen the premier of the heavily- promoted anthology film Kuldesak, which Riri Riza, director of the highly successful Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventures), co-directed.

Besides running the theater, LFM is also home to ITB students who have an interest in film and videomaking and photography.

Members of the club are currently initiating efforts to televise their programs.

And in order to realize that goal, the students are preparing to broadcast the programs via the Internet.