Darling documents a Bali in healing

Darling documents a Bali in healing

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

A few years ago, John Darling thought he was going to die of the
hemochromatosis he suffered.

With too much iron in his body, the once prolific Australian
filmmaker could do nothing but read and watch movies in his
hometown, Canberra.

Then came news about the terror attack in Kuta, Bali, on the
night of Oct. 12, 2002, killing 202 people, 80 of whom were
Australian nationals.

"I was very shocked and devastated to hear about such a
horrible tragedy. Bali has always been in my heart. It is like a
second home to me," said Darling, who lived in Bali between l969
and l986.

In the early 1970s, Darling lived with the family of renowned
Balinese artist I Gusti Nyoman Lempad in Banjar Taman, a village
in Ubud.

"I used to grow my own rice, have a cow and cooked my own food
with a traditional stove. Bali was really, really beautiful and
peaceful," recalled Darling.

Although Bali has been changing socially and physically,
Darling said he still admired the Balinese.

"I think this is an unusual people with an unusual culture,
Perhaps the best living culture in the world," he said.

The fond memory of the Island of the Gods kept haunting him.
"I haven't been to Bali for the last five years because of my
health condition," Darling said.

The bombing and the grief of the victims and their families
rekindled the ailing filmmaker, inspiring him to make another
documentary film.

"For me, it was a miracle. I thought I could never make
another film. Thanks also to new drugs and, of course, my wife
Sarah for encouraging me to do this project," said Darling,
affectionately gesturing toward his wife, who is also his
production manager.

"I might be wrong, but in my knowledge, there are no other
foreigners outside Indonesia who have made as many documentary
films on Bali and Indonesia as I have," he said.

Darling has produced and directed a lifetime's worth of
documentaries, including Below the Wind, a film on the Aboriginal
people of Arnhem Land, recounting a visit from old friends -- the
Sama Bajo of Indonesia -- who came south to look for trepang, or
sea cucumber.

He also co-produced and co-directed Bali Hash (l989), Bali
Triptych, a series of 3 films (l987), and Lempad of Bali (1980),
which he directed and co-produced with the late Lorne Blair. He
also co-produced Living with Dragons (l994-95) with Blair, a film
about the lives of the people of Komodo island, East Nusa
Tenggara.

All of his documentaries have been aired by prestigious
television stations around the world.

A month after the bombings, Darling and his family went to
Bali in November 2002, attending the Pamarisudha Karipubhaya mass
purification ceremony to ward off evil spirits and to purify the
island.

"I was so worried that I would not be able to portray such an
immense tragedy adequately. I owe so much to my Balinese and
Australian friends," he said.

He calls his most recent film The Healing of Bali. "Bali and
its people are certainly not healed yet. They are still sad and
angry," he said. "But they could control themselves. I saw a lot
of wisdom, a collective wisdom within the Balinese community."

Through his film, he wants to tell the Indonesian and Balinese
perspective on the tragedy, a story the world does not know. "It
was a terrible experience for them, yet they did not get enough
coverage, especially from international media," Darling said.

In the almost one-hour documentary, he focuses on the lives of
the victims after the bombing.

"Documentary films are about personalizing people and places
so the audience gains first-hand information on how these people
cope with their grief, their hopelessness, their expectations and
their new lives."

The film focuses mostly on Indonesian and Balinese victims and
a few Australian survivors, families and doctors.

"I decided to do (this film) because Australian televisions
have run so many films about the Bali bombing. They always deal
with stories about the bomb and Australians," he said.

The project is actually a family effort: His children helped
him with the research, and his wife acted as his production and
personal manager.

As seeking funding from the Australian government would be
time consuming and stressful, Darling decided to work jointly
with local company PADI Film and its executive producer Gary
Hayes.

"I've invested more than A$30,000 in this film," Darling said.

The documentarian is especially animated when he talks about
the ongoing project.

"I have always been close to all the film people in Indonesia,
from the older generation including the late Teguh Karya, Slamet
Rahardjo, Garin Nughroho and Christine Hakim, to rising stars
like Mira Lesmana," he said.

According to Darling, producing this film has been easier in
regards its technical aspects than his previous projects.

"We're using digital cameras, which make it quite easy to edit
and touch up the film," he noted.

In the past, he had to shoot every scene himself and
afterwards, had to bring the entire film back to Australia for
editing, sound mixing and post-production.

The Healing of Bali features bombing survivors as well as
volunteer Haji Bambang, former Chief Investigator Gen. I Made
Mangku Pastika and many others.

"I profiled Haji Bambang, whom I knew as a child roaming Kuta
beach. I used to play chess with him," said Darling.

Most importantly, the documentary exposes the genuine
friendship that exists between the Balinese, Javanese and other
people of different cultural and religious backgrounds.

"Many Westerners do not have any idea of what was happening
behind the tragedy. A lot of media coverage only saw things flat,
in black and white," Darling said.

He hopes the documentary film will be broadcast on television
in Australia. "I hope I can sell it to SBS and see it screened
on Oct. 12, the first anniversary of the bombing," he said.

Darling also has plans to offer the film to American TV
stations, BBC and other stations worldwide.