Indie film buffs ready for their close-up
Indie film buffs ready for their close-up
Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta
Anggy waited for the film crew to finish setting up their bare-
basics equipment so he could finish his acting for the day.
The 22-years-old had shaved his trademark dyed red hair three
days earlier to star as a high school kid in a movie scripted and
directed by his 33-year-old brother Nanda.
Anggy has had a role in a chocolate commercial before, but
this time around it was a labor of love and filial duty.
It's a case of keeping it all in the family, as Anggy's other
two older brothers, Fajar and Bounty, also star in the movie, the
story of a bunch of kids descending into the netherworld of
drugs.
Other crew members included roommate Dicky, who served as the
director of photography.
As the deadline for entries for the first Indonesian
Independent Film Festival (FFII) approached, they rushed their
production on a shoe-string budget.
Cost constraints did not stop them inserting a bit of 3D
animation into their movie, titled Generasi Bunga (The Flower
Generation).
They are lucky, since the production company Anggy works for
was willing to lend him the minidigital camera to shoot the
movie.
They also managed to "borrow" a mansion in the Pejompongan
area in Central Jakarta as their three meter by five meter rented
room was hardly the locale to represent a rich girl's house.
Playing the rich girl protagonist is 22-year-old Merry
Putrian, a radio host who was introduced to them by a friend in a
mall.
Merry immediately agreed to take part in the film and for no
fee.
She said that she had always wanted to act in an indie movie
and was willing to star in Generasi Bunga because "these boys are
so polite and nice".
The band of brothers and their friends are not the only ones
who are producing movies to be submitted to the film festival.
For the last three months since private television station
SCTV announced the holding of the festival, many aspiring
moviemakers and moviemaker wannabes have been grabbing whatever
equipment they can get to shoot movies.
Sixteen-year-old Ivan, who was spotted in front of Blok M
Plaza shopping center in South Jakarta last week, used a cheap
video8 handycam to film people on the street for stock shot
footage for his movie.
"I borrowed this camera from my brother's friend since I can't
afford to rent one," the high school student said.
"I believe that equipment does not matter, as long as you have
an interesting idea.
His movie is about a high school student who gets into a lot
of trouble when he skips school one day.
The idea of making a festival for aspiring local movie makers
is perfect timing because there are many people out there who
have been inspired by recent successes of locally produced movies
after years in the doldrums.
In fact, long before the local movie industry began its
resurgence in 2000, there were many amateur moviemakers who kept
doing what they loved best in life without knowing what to do
with them once the movies were finished.
They are usually movie buffs, whose idols are the likes of
Quentin Tarantino, Wong Kar-Wai and Guy Ritchie, who dream about
taking part in the creative side of celluloid and not just being
an audience.
The result is an abundance of movies that try to imitate the
unique visual style and often outrageous ideas of the three
exalted, cutting-edge filmmakers without offering real substance.
There are still many young moviemakers here trying to make
movies that look like British ultra-hit Trainspotting, a film
that reached both cult and popular status.
But it's the generation of young, MTV-literate moviemakers who
have saved the local film industry.
Among them are people such as Rudy Soedjarwo, who directed the
big hit Ada Apa dengan Cinta, which, at the end of March, had
garnered 1.7 million viewers.
It is extraordinary for a local movie, especially as
bootlegged VCDs are easily found anywhere in major cities.
The success has inspired more young people to make movies.
An aspiring moviemakers club, Komunitas Film Independen
(Konfiden), has organized a festival for amateur moviemakers for
several years and received enthusiastic responses from many.
After SCTV decided to hold its national festival starting this
year, more people throughout the country became aware of the
smaller Konfiden festival.
The response to the SCTV festival has been so overwhelming
that the committee was forced to postpone the deadline from March
31 to April 30.
"We got calls from many people asking us to postpone the
deadline," public relations official of the festival, Harryanto,
said.
As of April 17, there were 118 entries.
"And there are still many who are waiting to submit their
movies at the last minute," Harryanto added.
The word "independent" for the festival is not entirely
appropriate, however, since it is used in the U.S. to describe
movies that are not produced by the major film studios..
The slight deviation in the definition does not matter to
those interested in taking part in the festival. They include
those working either in local TV shows or movies who are also
taking the opportunity to produce something they really believe
in.
Oni Syahrial has starred in numerous TV shows, including the
hit comedy Tuyul dan Mbak Yul (Little Devil and Sister Yul), but
made an offer to the Generasi Bunga crew to work as a continuity
person for free.
"I have always wanted to make an independent movie and I think
this is a good opportunity to start," Oni said.
Other crew members said the soft-spoken, pint-sized actor had
been enthusiastic and a delight to work with.
Reka Wijaya, 24, turned down several editing jobs for TV shows
to direct a movie titled Amok for the festival.
"Do you think I would let go of an opportunity to direct the
kind of movie I really want to make for the formulaic, headache-
inducing sinetron (soap)? No way!" Reka said.
Although many of the entries will not make the grade, we can
be sure that real talent will also emerge to help bolster the
local film industry.
Rules of entry
1. Participants should register and submit their entries no later
than April 30. Registration forms can be obtained from SCTV
office at Mitra Building, Jl. Gatot Subroto Kav. 21, South
Jakarta. The registration fee is Rp 75,000 for students and Rp
150,000 for members of the public.
2. Entries can be submitted either in VHS or VCD format. If their
entries pass the preliminary screening, participants should
submit their movies in VHS, Betacam, or Digital Video format.
3. The maximum running time for each entry is 30 minutes and
should not contain pornography, SARA (tribal affiliation,
religion, race and societal groups) or excessive violence.
4. Entries should be produced after 1998.
5. Copyrighted materials used in every entry (stock footage or
music) should have written permission from copyright holders.
To contact SCTV tel: 5225555