Culture is back on the film agenda

Fabio Scarpello, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Eliana-Eliana, loved by the public and critics alike, is only one of the few movies produced locally this year; barely noticeable in the midst of the 200 imported. But underneath this gloomy statistic, Indonesian cinema has started to fight back.

Government and filmmakers are going back to school! A shift in the theoretical approach is at the base of a (re)evaluation of films as an educational tool and a medium to strengthen national identity.

Hadi Artomo, the dean of the School of Film and Television at the Jakarta Institute of Arts (IKJ), underlines the need to change the industry's frame of thinking -- from less emphasis on commercial interests to more emphasis placed on cultural concerns. "Films record human life with a combination of motion pictures and sounds. When behind the camera lens we have to concern ourselves not only with esthetics but also ethics and local values".

I Gede Ardika, Minister of Culture and Tourism, shared this concern recently, saying: "When I talk about films my interest is with the content, which is culture. The basic concept of culture is identity and my responsibility is how to assert our identity".

This communal ideological platform is needed. Indonesia is a diverse country with 300 ethnic groups and 14 distinct main languages. Also, since the fall of president Soeharto it has entered a phase of political and social change. An important aspect of this struggle is the re-defining of national identity in which the media, and film in particular, play an important role.

Currently, the country's 600 movie theaters are flooded with imported films -- mainly from the U.S. -- that are filled with ideological content. This leads to a degree of cultural imperialism. Through the stereotyped images represented, young people identify with the depicted lifestyles, and gradually start accepting values and beliefs they would otherwise not entertain.

But it would be a mistake to attack Uncle Sam. The real issue is strengthening Indonesia's ideology through film, rather than preventing Spiderman from reaching Jakarta.

"Based on the Constitution we are an open nation," said Ardika. "We can gain confidence from the fact that our nation has absorbed, digested and assimilated aspects of other cultures. I am aware that there will be some aspects of American culture that we have assimilated, and I know there is a degree of risk, but the risk would be greater if we stopped importing (films). This would jeopardize the process of democratization in the country".

Hadi consented, saying: "We don't have to worry about influences from other countries. Indonesian culture cannot isolate itself. We have to accept progress, and progress comes with cultural exchange. We have to concentrate on our production. Twenty-five films a year would be enough to reinforce our national identity, but at the moment this is not happening".

The annual level of production is a particularly sore point for a country that, in its heyday during the 1970s, averaged 130 titles a year, while last year it only managed two. Many theories have been put forward on why this decline has happened. It has been attributed to various causes: monopoly in distribution, Indonesia's entry to the Motion Pictures Export Association of America (MPEAA), the growth in television film production, the increase in video piracy and a decline in quality movies.

With money unavailable the buzzword is education.

"Education is multi-layered," said Ardika. "The curriculum is the first layer, followed by personnel (teachers, lecturers, assistants) and than equipment (buildings, books etc.). At the moment we are still discussing the first layer."

Things are starting to move. Media studies is soon to be introduced in schools for students as young as 14, with the curriculum provided by the IKJ. This move is aimed at triggering a two-fold effect: To improve people's "appreciation" of art movies and to facilitate the step into higher education within the creative media.

Another crucial point currently being discussed is the need for another Art University. In a country with 210.6 million inhabitants, 20 graduates a year is simply not enough.

"We need competition. We need more qualified personnel striving to achieve." But the problem is deeper than film says Ardika: "I would like to see Indonesian be more courageous, take more risks, experience more with their creativity, be more daring. At the moment this is not happening. An educational system geared at giving instructions rather than putting initiatives and creativity into action has surely not helped".

This is evident, even in the newborn dialogue between the filmmakers and the establishment. On one side we have a community that is reluctant to take the initiative and - based on past experiences -- are still suspicious. On the other side we find the difficulty that the government - wary of the community's perceptions - is facing in fulfilling its legislative role. The effect is paralyzing.

"We need a new paradigm, a new frame of mind based and shared on confidence and trust - says Ardika - we are here to listen and facilitate whenever we can, but the community has to take responsibility for that. They are in the film business and they have to tell me what they need from me."

Notwithstanding the communication barrier, the dice have been thrown and the ball has started rolling. Other important issues at stake is the proposal by the film community to review its censorship criteria with the introduction of an age-graded system for films, and to change the Cinema Advisory Bureau; from a state organ aimed at advising the government to a public company aimed at serving the filmmaking community.

Improving the cultural leverage of Indonesian films is not going to happen tomorrow. It is a long and tortuous road, but it is the right road.