Jakarta International Film Festival, glitches and all, still a winner
By Hera Diani
JAKARTA (JP): Sunday brings to a close the second Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest 2000). After 10 straight days of showcasing some of celluloid's finest, the party is finally over.
Hundreds of people swarmed Djakarta Theater, Usmar Ismail Film Center (PPHUI), Erasmus Huis and 21 movie theaters at the Ismail Marzuki Art Center (TIM) and Plaza Senayan for the screenings, willing to sit on the floor to watch a sold-out film, or rush from one theater to another to fit in as much as they possibly could.
Whether they were true movie buffs, film personalities, aspiring film directors or simply the curious who wanted to know what the big fuss was all about, the event was too good to be missed.
Some 100 films -- some old, some new, some award-winning pictures from various countries, some animated -- were screened, but they shared one thing in common in bearing little resemblance to typical Hollywood exports.
It was also an opportunity for Indonesian filmmakers, especially young ones, to exhibit their films.
Tickets were cheap, only Rp 5,000 (60 U.S. cents) to Rp 7,500 each, or less than a third of the regular price in Plaza Senayan of Rp 25,000 ($2.70).
An employee at a dotcom, Fitri, 26, said she was not completely over her disappointment about Autumn in New York, starring Richard Gere and Winona Ryder, which she described as "crap and a waste of money".
Thus, she was elated when she heard about JiFFest, and quickly made reservations for 14 different films.
Her plans did not go as smoothly as she hoped because as of the first day of the festival, she only got 10 tickets.
"I missed High Fidelity, which played on the first day," Fitri said of the film starring John Cusack.
After struggling and managing to get through on the festival's single telephone line, the committee gave her substitute tickets to other films.
Were the movies worth the effort?
"Yes, fortunately, " Fitri said. There were some films she did not like, but she said she enjoyed most of them, such as Being John Malkovich, Run Lola Run and Leila
The festival's director and co-founder, Shanty Harmayn, apologized for the ticketing problems, saying they were due to a technical snafu.
"The computer program broke down just two days before the big day," she said on Tuesday at PPHUI in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
To make matters easier, computers were set to be used for arrangements and transactions, especially because ticket orders could reach up to 200 a day.
Unfortunately, the computers gave out the wrong information -- and then broke down.
Why not stick to the usual system of box-office sales?
"Well, we wanted to satisfy movie buffs so that they could watch as many movies as they wanted. But people could still get the tickets before the screenings," said Shanty.
The problem was compounded by chronic issues of lack of funds and human resources.
"We were really understaffed, and most of them are volunteering. Why? Because unlike what people think, we don't have much budget to hold this event," she said.
The total budget spent was US$100,000, which came from grants and sponsorships. Shanty said it took about $1 million to hold such an international festival.
She and fellow founder Natasha Devillers plan to visit the Rotterdam and Singapore film festivals to learn the best ways of organizing a festival.
But at least the audience's enthusiasm paid off.
Perhaps overjoyed at the prospect of seeing more diverse fare than the usual stuff in local movie theaters, filmgoers overlooked the glitches.
They cheered and applauded, even at absurd movies in the new Indonesian cinema genre, like Pachinko..and Everyone is Happy and Sebuah Pertanyaan Untuk Cinta (A Question for Love).
While Pachinko is full of unnecessarily long scenes, including 10 minutes of lovemaking in which the excitement eventually wears off, a man gave two thumbs up when a friend asked him how the movie was.
It was the same for A Question, a so-called poetic love story and a bad interpretation of short stories of noted authors Seno Gumira Ajidarma and Putu Wijaya.
The audience could also watch distinguished Indonesian movies like Chaerul Umam's Titian Serambut Dibelah Tujuh (1982) and Garin Nugroho's Surat Untuk Bidadari (Letter to an Angel, 1992).
Other viewers were left confused by the surreal quality of some of the works.
"Why John Malkovich? Why not Tom Cruise, or Brad Pitt?" a man asked a friend after watching the movie telling how a man can get into the mind of actor John Malkovich.
For those in the film circle, the festival was an important occasion offering many lessons.
Actress and producer Ratna Riantiarno believed it could possibly revive the moribund Indonesian film industry.
"It's also an alternative for us to watch films other than the usual films shown in movie theaters. And filmmakers can learn much from it," she told The Jakarta Post.
She watched three movies in a row.
"There are so many movies I'd like to watch. But unlike Jajang (C. Noer) who runs from one theater to another to catch movies, I don't have that much energy," she laughed, pointing to actress- director Jajang who was nearby.
As well as fixing their computer problems, organizers of future festivals should provide Indonesian subtitles for English- language films to allow the works to reach a larger audience (Indonesian films, after all, included English subtitles).
A serious issue that needs to be addressed is censorship. Kadosh (Sacred), an Israeli-French film about women rebelling against stifling religious conventions in Jerusalem, did not pass the Film Censorship Board. It was a pity, for it left many people disappointed.