'Govt has neglected moviemakers for too long'

Yuki Aditya, 25, is currently working as a freelance writer after recently graduating with an economics degree from a state university. He claims to be an avid filmgoer, and enjoys collecting rare films.

I personally think that Indonesian films generally still lack the quality that would make them both artistic and memorable, except for Arisan, which I found satisfying. I find a lot of films that simply rely on slapstick methods and good-looking actors to sell them.

Despite the fact that the industry is trying to reestablish itself, most of the films fail to generate a good kind of stir because of the standard, predictable plots, and thus remain far below the bar set by those produced in the 1970s and 1980s.

Most current movies also focus more on the high-class people and tend to ridicule people with weight problems, relatively ugly looks, or with sexual orientations out of the mainstream, despite the reality that all of those types of people have a lot of good things about them to be explored.

As for the government, they have neglected this creative industry for too long. They should return a large portion of the taxes and revenues they get from the film industry, such as by subsidizing production costs, providing soft loans to producers or financing more local film festivals.

Sinta Satriana, 25, works as a journalist with a foreign newswire. She regularly goes to the movies and attends film festivals. She lives with her colleagues in Jakarta.

In terms of quantity, we should be pretty content with the ever emerging and increasing number of films released, especially after the 1990 period where big-screen films were hard to find.

The public response has also been swelling, which is good to push directors and producers to maximize efforts to come up with quality films.

There are films that try to push for a breakthrough, in terms of ideas, like Virgin but somehow turn out tacky although I do respect the effort.

When it comes to acting, there are still very few who can make it real and blow you away. Actors from the old era are still the best, even when they were young back then. We should have more contests in acting or scripwriting, and also film festivals to seek the untapped talent of the young generation.

As far as I see, the government has done nothing much toward the film industry that we can be proud of. I always think that what little we have now is mainly because of the film activists who are striving to bring back the good times of the film industry.

Dyan Galuh Dwihardani, 20, a sociology major at The University of Indonesia. She lives in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.

I usually go to the movie theater with three to six student friends on weekdays around 5 p.m. Watching a local movie is quite enjoyable. Overall, the performance of Indonesian movies are fair enough nowadays.

As for the actors and actresses, I think they are talented enough. Some of them are relatively new in the industry, but already show a good quality of performance.

For instance, the Arisan! movie. I liked all the main and supporting stars. The story runs smoothly and the setting is quite good. It tells about young adults not teenagers.

I hope that film producers will produce more movies that carry good moral messages rather than just love stories.

I Wayan Westra, 27, an employee of a local bank on Jalan Sudirman, Central Jakarta. He lives in Pinang Ranti, East Jakarta.

Three to four times a month I watch movies in the theater with my partner. I would rather watch movies in the theater than at home on DVD.

I think Indonesian movies started improve following the release of Ada Apa Dengan Cinta. It now continues to get better.

I think the performance of actors and actresses is adequate. Most of the stories are good enough, like Banyu Biru. Some, however, are boring.

I like Banyu Biru and Ada Apa Dengan Cinta movies particularly because of star Dian Sastrowardoyo. However, I don't like the movie titled Beth. I found it disgusting. --The Jakarta Post