Films-QFilmFestival-Shorts
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Local short films take a peek at gay life
Kenny Santana Contributor/Jakarta qnoy2k@yahoo.com
Nude bodies, a scene from a gay sauna or a transvestite tale in Paris are not something you would normally expect to see on an Indonesian screen.
Yet, in the Q! Film Festival, eight local short films dare to present the subject of homosexuality, which is frequently looked down upon by society. From experimental film to fiction to documentary, the works portray true stories, a different kind of entertainment and raise thought-provoking issues.
One of the audiences' favorites from the Made in Indonesia compilation has been Still, directed by 25-year-old Lucky Kuswandi. Shot in Los Angeles when Lucky was in his final year of studies, the film follows the journey of a young gay man.
Loneliness, despair, and emotional turbulence in the life of the young man are shot beautifully when he walks through his own life's cliches.
Lucky worked through the idea with a college friend, actor/producer/writer Jason Woo. "To be honest, at first we only wanted to make a film with a guy in a train station, and we shot that opening scene. What followed afterward was the trial and error of footage we shot later on.
"We didn't even have a script," Lucky explained. However, he admitted that the whole subject was subtly based on his own and Jason's relationships with their dads.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post on the opening night, member of the audience Hans Muljadi said, "The film embodies beautiful and powerful visual imagery. Every frame reflects sensuality and fragility at the same time."
Another hit in the compilation has been the story of Wulandari, a 34-year-old former transsexual sex worker in Paris. The documentary, Paris Dreams, (without English subtitles), amused the Indonesian-speaking audience with Wulandari's frankness.
She talks about how cold it was to prostitute herself in the winter, mee ting someone she loved, waiting for her husband to come home each day, and living a dream. The movie successfully pulled the audience's heartstrings and drew smiles at Wulandari's honesty.
Dhani Agustinus made the film during a recent visit to Paris for a documentary filmmaking workshop. "There are several other Indonesia transvestites in Paris, but I chose Wulandari because her story had human interest, as she wanted to change her life," Dhani said. The filming took only half a day, yet it manages to be a good documentary in the end.
Shot also in France, another short, Un Dimanche Comme Les Autres, failed to evoke the same level of interest as Paris Dreams. The story of a young man in solitude bore most of the audience during its full-length portrayal of a karaoke session, while the supposedly "provocative" ending seemed pretentious.
During the screening, the audience yawned, talked and yawned. Worse still, it didn't get what the movie was all about.
Rinaldo, an executive in the audience said, "It has no clear idea to convey and its execution is so unbelievably raw and immature. I tried hard to overlook all the repulsive scenes in the movie so that I could grasp the theme and meaning of the picture, but to no avail."
However, don't be let down: The audience will be fascinated again by Lihat, a movie-cum-videoclip that is gorgeously shot, beautifully arranged and perfectly put.
Directed by Zeke Morse and Ramondo Gascaro, a member of Sore, the breakthrough independent band whose music was used in the short, the short is simply a surprise addition to the bunch. Two elderly men wandering around Jakarta, looking back to their memories, desires and, perhaps, long-lost love, provide a bittersweet take on life.
Other shorts show interesting work of up-and-coming young filmmakers. While Billy Christian's Dear My Daughter, an official selection from last year's Pusan International Film Festival, will draw much discussion on gender, his other film, A Long Stick Waffle between Two Cherries, is an honest and funny look at a local teenager dealing with his sexuality, his girlfriend and his coming out of the closet.
Though his films, especially Dear My Daughter, are not really crowd-pleasers, Billy is undoubtedly a talented filmmaker to be watched in the future.
The last two films, Black Cherry (director Lucky Kuswandi), which shows a woman's exploration of her own body, and Fever (Paul F. Agusta), an overlong-yet-wonderful study of human bodies, create the same image in the audiences' mind: sensuality. One's journey toward one's sexuality never looked this good before.
Sure, the shorts in the compilation have some flaws, but more importantly, they give audiences something to think about: Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or those who have crossed the gender boundary are simply like any of us -- friends, sexual human beings, lonely souls, dreamers.
in box: Made in Indonesia shorts is part of the Q! Film Festival and will be shown at Goethe Haus (6 p.m. on Sept. 22), Teater Utan Kayu (4 p.m., Sept. 24) and Oktagon Gallery (3 p.m., Sept. 25). For further information click on www.qfilmfestival.com