For film archive, Ardan won't rest

For film archive, Ardan won't rest

Tony Ryanto, Contributor, Jakarta

S.M. Ardan is already 71, or 16 years beyond the mandated
retirement age, but he has no intention of retiring as chairman
of the National Film Archive (Sinematek Indonesia).

It is not that he doesn't want to retire from the top position
but no one else seems to be interested in stepping into his
shoes. The salient point is the meager salary.

"Nobody else is prepared to take my place and live below the
poverty line," Ardan said, when asked if he has been training a
potential successor.

Sinematek was founded in 1975 by the then popular Jakarta
Governor, Ali Sadikin. Ardan took over as chairman from Misbach
Yusa Biran in 2001.

The soft-spoken modest Betawi was born in Medan, North
Sumatra, on Feb. 22, 1932 and is nicknamed the "walking
dictionary of Indonesian cinema" in reference to his resounding
knowledge as a film historian.

A fan of Marlon Brando and Katharine Hepburn, Ardan can
quickly recall which American films were banned and when in
Indonesia.

But, sadly, Ardan could not conceal the state of Sinematek's
archives, as the documentation of locally-made films is poor.

Visitors to Sinematek, hoping to gain access and view oldies
starring Raden Mochtar and Rukiah, for example, will be
disappointed.

The 28-year-old film library has no screening room of its own
and it is not in possession of local classics. There are only two
oldies in the collection, a 1935 film Ti Pat Kai Kawin and
Kenang-Kenangan Rukiah

The first is based on an episode of the Chinese classic
Journey to the West, relating the marriage of a pig-faced
immortal with a monkey king and the quest of a Buddhist monk for
a Holy Book.

Kenang-Kenangan is a collection of short-cuts taken from films
starring Rukiah, Indonesia's most popular actress of the 1930s.
The actress married screen comedian Kartolo, and the couple's
child was the late pop singer Rachmat Kartolo.

The lack of funds is the main reason for the incomplete
library. Sinematek Indonesia is housed in the five-story Usmar
Ismail Center for Film Development, which receives no government
subsidies.

To cover its budget, the foundation has an agreement with a
business company, which occupies the first three floors of the
building. The 4th and 5th floors accommodate Sinematek Indonesia
and various other film organizations, including PPFI (producers),
KFT (film and TV crew) and Parfi (film actors and actresses).

While SI manages to survive, thanks to the availability of
cheaper resources, such as video tapes, VCDs and DVDs in the
market, it does not have the budget for other projects.

Says Ardan: "We now have a collection of several thousand
titles, which of course includes foreign films. But for the last
few years we have not been able to pay annual fees to the
International Federation of Film Archives, (which is based in
Brussels)."

Sinematek Indonesia became a member of FIAF (Federation
Internationale des Archives du Film) in 1977, in 1978, Indonesia
took part in the organization's annual Congress in Brighton, U.K.

"But in the years that followed, we (Indonesia) were too broke
to send a delegation to the congress.

"We do not know our current status in FIAF. But we have not
been officially informed that SI's membership has been scrapped
because we haven't paid the membership fees. When FIAF was set up
in 1938 it had four members but today 120 institutions from more
than 65 countries have joined."

The 2004 FIAF congress will be held in Vietnam, which only
became a member five years ago.

FIAF is dedicated to the rescue, collection, preservation and
screening of moving images, valued both as works of art and as
cultural and historical documents.

In 1936 Henri Langlois and George Franju co-founded
Cinematheque Francaise in Paris, the world's most famous film
archives. Young filmmakers of the French New Wave viewed
countless reels of film in its screening rooms.

The Cinematheque was subsidized by the government in 1946, but
the subsidy was terminated in 1968, following a dispute involving
Langlois's so called anarchical working methods. The then
Minister of Culture, Andre Malraux, intended to remove Langlois
from his post but was forced to back down under pressure from
demonstrators and the threats of famous directors.

In 1969, the French government established its own film
archives, the Service des Archives de Film du Centre National de
la Cinematographie.

Asked what he learnt from the Cinematheque Francaise, Ardan
says a comprehension of the principles of both Langlois and the
French government.

After graduating from Taman Siswa senior high school in
Jakarta in 1955, Ardan became a poet and a writer of short
stories, films and plays. He started a career in journalism at
the age of 20, writing for Star News magazine, Aneka weekly,
Violeta and Film magazines. He was also a contributing writer for
Kompas, Sinar Harapan, Suara Pembaruan, Republika and Warta Kota
newspapers.

He has written screenplays and was a co-editor of Katalog Film
Indonesia (1995) and Apa-Siapa Orang Film Indonesia (1979 and
1997). Among his best scripts are Nyai Dasima and Si Pitung.

Ardan is also well-respected for his efforts to preserve
lenong, a Betawi (native Jakarta) traditional play.

Despite the financial problems that have practically crippled
Sinematek, Ardan remains proud of the institution.

"I love my job because, despite its deplorable condition, we
(Sinematek) enjoy complete freedom. Just imagine if a regime, for
political reasons, demanded the destruction of certain archives
just because they didn't like them.

"Money is important but freedom means more... much more."