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