Entrants in national TV festival announced
JAKARTA (JP): A special committee for the Indonesian Sinetron Festival announced yesterday its selection of television dramas, comedies, documentaries and short films to be included in the December awards.
There are 81 entrants from sinetron (television miniseries) -- consisting of 740 episodes -- 26 comedy series, 24 short dramas, one short comedy and some documentary films produced by 55 production houses, five private TV stations and three government agencies between l995 and l997.
A spokesman for the committee, Ilham Bintang, said nine members of the film industry, media and other fields were involved in the selection process.
The team -- including R.M. Sunarto, Yaya Sutara, Efix Mulyadi, Sandy Tyas, Wina Armada and Tipuk Nugroho -- worked for two months to make their choices.
Ilham said the announcement of the selected titles will be broadcast live on the state-owned TVRI and five other private TV stations -- RCTI, SCTV, TPI, Indosiar and ANteve -- on Sept. 21.
The entrants will later be judged and the final nominations announced in November, he said.
The annual festival, held since l993, has become a gala event for the local film industry to reward its best achievers. The nominees will compete for Vidya Awards.
The domestic movie industry, which has been on a downhill slide since the early l990s, has continuously failed to deliver films that meet the requirements of the prestigious Citra Awards (local version of the Oscars).
The limited production of high-quality, wide-screen movies and the uneven distribution between imported and domestic films has been blamed for the deterioration.
The number of Indonesian wide-screen films produced here plunged drastically from more than 100 titles annually in the late 1980s and early 1990s to only 30 last year.
The government and the local movie industry have tried to revive the sluggish film industry but competition has proved too stiff in a market which is dominated by Hollywood products.
The production of Fatahillah, screened last June, has yet to prove whether it can boost the domestic film industry.
With the rapid growth of the local television industry, film makers have turned their attention and their artistic talents to TV.
The growth of private TV stations and the corresponding need to satisfy the appetite of local viewers has contributed to the boom in miniseries and comedies.
There are such laudable examples as Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Si Doel, the graduate), Siti Nurbaya, and the latest miniseries Bukan Perempuan Biasa (No Ordinary Women) starring Christine Hakim.
Ilham said: "It is hoped that the festival will encourage the local film community to improve their acting and the quality of their products." (raw)