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