Censor board receives sharp criticism from House members

Censor board receives sharp criticism from House members

JAKARTA (JP): The Institute of Film Censorship was strongly
criticized during a hearing with the House of Representatives on
Wednesday, with legislators accusing it of being lax,
particularly toward films shown on television.

Members of the House Commission I for foreign affairs, defense
and information told institute's officials that many of the films
shown on local TV still contained too "much violence and
pornography".

They also said that many of the films passed by the censorship
board "were not educative" and "went against the nation's
cultural values".

Executives of the Advisory Board for National Films were not
spared the House's wrath during the joint hearing.

Ali Rasyidi, a Golkar member who chaired the hearing, said the
"violence and pornography" shown in the films that passed the
censors have strongly influenced Indonesian's behavior.

He attributed the increase in rapes and other forms of
brutality in Indonesia to the influence of films and television.

Representatives of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
criticized telenovelas, the Latin American soap operas that are
gaining popularity among Indonesian television viewers.

B.N. Marbun said these Latin dramas undermine the development
and conservation of the nation's traditional values.

He said screening telenovelas doesn't follow the spirit of the
1992 Film Law. The law underlines the need to promote national
culture.

Marbun pointed out that private television networks show
imported programs at the expense of local shows.

Sophan Sophiaan, a film star and PDI member, questioned the
professional capability of the institute in screening films that
use languages other than English as shown in the way it passed
the telenovelas.

The Latin drama has been dubbed into Indonesia.

"How can we expect the institute to work well if most of its
members cannot speak English, Chinese and Spanish well," he said.

Marbun called on big businesses to invest in producing local
films to help fight the domination of foreign films.

"Producing national films should be a promising business
prospect because of the sheer number of potential viewers," he
said.

Advisory Board Chairman Johan Tjasmadi told the hearing that
he has complained to the government about violations by TV
stations, but not action has been taken. (rms)