Environmental films first step on way to awareness
Environmental films first step on way to awareness
JAKARTA (JP): Can you save the environment by sitting in front of the television? It may take a while, but film director Slamet Rahardjo and Minister of Environment's representative Sunoto believe educating the public through films is integral to the Green movement.
Slamet and Sunoto spoke at a seminar last Wednesday on the Earth Vision Film Festival, sponsored by the Japan Foundation, the Ministry of Environment and Cipta Gallery. Eighteen films from across the world were at Japan's Cultural Center in Summitmas Tower. The festival ended on Dec. 1.
Earth Vision's premier showing in Jakarta followed festivals in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney and Bangkok, and aimed to increase environmental awareness. Among the films shown this year were Mongolia's I am a Mongolian Child, Japan's A 20th Century Legacy? The Story of Chemical Weapons, and India's The Weeping Rice Bowl, about the flooding of Kerala's rich rice valley.
The two films shown on Wednesday were Japanese productions. The Sound of Tiny Wings - A Village where the Korean Red Hairstreak Plays, is a microscopic look at the endangered Gossamer Wing Butterfly, illustrating the co-dependence between humankind and the environment it continual destroys. Living on the River Agano is a humorous yet plaintive illumination of how those most protective of their environment often become the biggest victims of environmental hazards.
Indonesia, especially its poor and its traditional societies, is no stranger to environmental hazards. Sunoto is therefore confident the festival will have an impact.
"If this festival can gather 500 people, who will each tell 5 other people, then in five years we will have an effect," explained Sunoto.
This festival is increasingly necessary, among a public unaware of worsening environmental damage, Sunoto added.
"Environmental awareness won't happen by itself. You need a campaign to raise it," said Sunoto.
While the stereotype of an ignorant Indonesian public continues, Slamet Rahardjo argues that the country's traditional values are very sensitive to the environment.
"When I grew up, I was told that if you urinate in the sea, you will get cursed by black magic," said Slamet. "These traditional values are now disappearing because they are thought of as 'primitive'. We as modern people don't want to know them," said Slamet.
The fact that no Indonesian films were shown, and that few Indonesian environmental films are made at all, also hinders progress. Slamet attributes film scarcity to government censorship.
"Filmmakers should be able to make honest films, but how can we make honest films if the environment is still a sensitive issue?" asked Slamet.
-- Dini S. Djalal