Garin dreams of elevating film distribution

John Badalu, Contributor, Jakarta

Securing an interview with Garin Nugroho these days is surprisingly easy. Although he is busy preparing his latest film (he declines to describe the plot or even give the title of the film), he looks relatively relaxed.

When the country's film industry was declare dead in the early 1990s, Garin released the poetic film Cinta Dalam Sepotong Roti (Love in a Slice of Bread). He soon gained international attention with his first feature, and became the leader of Indonesia's New Wave directors.

With a number of domestic and international awards under his belt, Garin Nugroho is moving forward with a number of interesting projects.

The last film he released was back in May, Rembulan di Ujung Dahan (The Moon at the Edge of a Branch). Although Rembulan di Ujung Dahan was made for eventual airing on TV, it was premiered last May for a limited audience, especially students.

The reaction wasn't all that positive. A number of people in the audience suggested that Garin had lost his magic touch, and some others opined that the film was just a waste of time.

He didn't let these criticisms slow him down, and recently took part in the anniversary celebration of the Goethe-Institute, screening three of his films, launching a book and putting together an exhibition of photos taken from the sets of his films.

Garin remains as excited and dedicated to his work as ever. We will just have to wait for his next creation.

Question: What was the idea behind the making Rembulan di Ujung Dahan?

Answer: I just thought that there are a lot of Indonesian films being made these days. But while a lot of young filmmakers are in the process of shooting films, almost none of them are making films for children.

Riri Riza did Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventure) a couple of years ago and it was such a big hit. I see that a lot of children are longing for films that are made for them. You can see a lot of TV programs are targeting children too, but they are just entertainment programs. Nothing really educative.

I made Rembulan di Ujung Dahan for children, for teenagers. I've been wanting to make a film for children that not only has entertainment value, but is also educative. I'm trying to raise awareness about environmental issues. This is the door that I would like to open through filmmaking.

Q: What's the story about?

A: It's a classic story. There is a jungle in the middle of a big city. A young man runs an education center in that jungle. There is a legend in that jungle, that when the moon is full a man and a woman will meet on the bridge and fall in love. It's poetic, like my previous films. Then there is a businesswoman who wants to demolish the jungle and turn it into big shopping mall. I'm not going into details.

Q: What's your next project?

A: Shooting a feature film in Irian Jaya. I'm still working on the concept at the moment. I always like to tell a story of one local community and their reaction and adaptation to globalization.

Q: Any obsessions besides making films?

A: I'm working on it at the moment. I'd like to develop community TV programs for people in remote areas. I want to provide TV programs for some villages, for the locals to integrate and socialize among themselves.

I also do a lot of workshops, education programs for young and potential filmmakers. In the future, I'd like to write a book about film, media and sociopolitical issues.

Q: What do you think of the Indonesian film industry at the moment?

A: I am very happy about it actually. The technology of the digital camera is advancing very quickly. People are starting to get bored with TV programs. A lot of young new directors are appearing. They are quite idealistic and dare to express themselves. So the euphoria of creation is extraordinary. I admire Riri Riza's new film Eliana, Eliana. Nan Achnas and Hany Saputra also have a lot of potential.

Q: You recently released a book. Can you tell us a bit about it?

A: The book is called Membaca Film Garin (Reading Garin's Films). It was written by many people in the film industry. It's a study of my films, and each writer gives quite a personal point of view. Reading this book, people will be better able to understand my films, and will also learn about the filmmaking process.

Q: Who are your favorite directors?

A: I love Italian and Iranian film directors in the neorealism theme. I love Woody Allen for his landscapes and knowledge of city life. Kieslowski's romanticism and Peter Weir. From Indonesia, I admire Teguh Karya and Syumanjaya.

Q: What do you do in your spare time?

A: I'm mad about soccer. You bet that I spent a lot of time watching the World Cup recently. I also like to read a lot. My father is a publisher, so since I was very young I have been reading a lot of serious books, while other children my age were still playing around. My brother is an artist, so I have been exposed to the art world since I was a kid.

My dream in the future is to create a new channel of film distribution. Maybe through schools and TV.