Daring new production house breathes life into RI films

Daring new production house breathes life into RI films

By Sori Siregar

JAKARTA (JP): Somewhere in Tokyo, a place called Graha
Indonesia exhibits and sells sculptures of Irian Jaya's Asmat
tribe.

A new addition is a counter where visitors can watch videos of
Indonesian television dramas. This is how a production house, PT
Sinema Sejati, is promoting its products overseas.

Graha is organized and run by Seichi Okawa, the Tokyo
correspondent of an Indonesian weekly magazine. When he was in
Indonesia two months ago, he visited the office of Sinema Sejati
in Kebayoran, Jakarta.

He watched the drama film Penari (Dancer) and a 13-episode
series called Arjuna Mencari Cinta (Arjuna Seeking Love).

He said he was prepared to promote and sell the two
productions to NHK TV station or other local networks in Japan.

The president director of Sinema Sejati, Kemala Atmojo,
welcomed Okawa's enthusiasm.

Sinema Sejati is a relatively new production house in Jakarta.
Founded on March 11, 1997, it has already produced four TV dramas
and one film.

Arjuna Mencari Cinta, based on the novel by Yudhistira ANM
Massardi and directed by Sam Sarumpaet, has been purchased by
private television station ANteve and is scheduled to be screened
this month.

Three other TV films, Penari, which is based on a short story
by Seno Gumira Ajidarma, Sunyi Nirmala (Nirmala's Loneliness,
based on the novel by Ashadi Siregar) and Dalam Bayangan Ibu (In
Mother's Shadow, based on a short story by Najib Kertapati) are
now being offered to TV studios.

By normal standards completing films before knowing who is
going to buy them -- or whether anyone is even interested -- is a
foolhardy approach. This is even more so when the products are
not the usual commercial soap operas.

For the 90-minute Penari, for instance, Sinema Sejati spent Rp
125 million.

Meanwhile, the only theatrical film made by the production
house, Sri, written and directed by Marselli Sumarno, is now
being mixed and edited for release.

Sinema Sejati has met with a mixed welcome. Some say the
production house is too daring.

Customarily, a production house offers its scenario first to
TV studios for an agreement before it starts production. This
assures that the film will be bought by a TV station.

Sinema Sejati says it has taken this risk to avoid a further
risk -- having to compromise quality for viewers used to a diet
of low-quality soap operas.

TV studios are interested only in productions certain to land
hefty ratings, however how deficient it may be in substance and
artistic values.

Kemala, explaining his seemingly suicidal policy, "Sinema
Sejati was founded as a response to the death of the Indonesian
cinema movie".

Profit remains a target, but the most important thing is that
it should be earned by giving something valuable to the viewers,
Kemala said.

By watching the productions and educational messages in subtle
packaging, viewers, he added, "would better know the meaning of
life, of themselves and their environment".

Sinema Sejati's starting capital was Rp 1.5 billion and it has
spent about Rp 3 billion for productions.

It is now trying hard to market its product domestically as
well as overseas to seek more capital. It is now listed on the
Internet in the Movie Market Homepage and the New York-based
magazine Variety Catalogues. It also cooperates with moviemaker
and distributor Miramax to sell its products.

Another cooperation is with a foreign artist, playwright and
director Jason Moore, for filmmaking in Indonesia and the United
States.

By offering serious products depicting social problems, Kemala
is confident that viewers will tend to think rationally and not
be gullible and easily satisfied as is the common assumption.

Sinema is adamant about not producing films with storylines
containing mysticism and action, popular ingredients of today's
programs on local TV stations.

"Let them (others) do it, don't ask me to do so," Kemala said.

But he added that production houses need to play their role in
changing viewers' taste to increase the quality of TV dramas.

At least three series are in the pipeline for this idealistic
company: Di Antara Dua Wanita (Between Two Women) by Prasanti in
26 episodes),Midnight Cafe by Seno Gumira Ajidarma and Hati Yang
Berkabut (The Clouded Heart) by Najib Kertapati in 30 episodes.