JIFFest 1999 inspires local film industry

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): Film producer Kemala Atmodjo is elated. He returned from Bangkok last Sunday after attending the Asia- Pacific Film Festival. He received the First Jury Prize for his film, Sri, a cinematic look into the Javanese culture made by first-time director Marselli Sumarno.

That same day, Atmodjo was standing at the Usmar Ismail Film Center, watching the crowd that was flocking in to see My America, a documentary feature which was one of the films screened at the Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest).

"I'm happy that my film won an international prize," he said. "But I'm even happier and touched to see all these enthusiastic people trying to get in to see all these wonderful films. The festival is a good thing to nurture the Indonesian people's appreciation of cinema."

JIFFest 1999 is over. For nine straight days, from Nov. 20 to Nov. 28, people swarmed the Usmar Ismail Film Center, the Graha Bakti Budaya and the 21 movie theaters at the Ismail Marzuki Arts Center (TIM). Some 65 films were exhibited at these venues: they are award-winning pictures from various countries, none of them bearing any resemblance to the formulaic mass-products that Hollywood usually supplies.

And the audience was wildly enthusiastic. Over 900 people flooded the 830-seat Graha Bakti Budaya to see a small British film like Brassed Off, or a local film like Leaf on a Pillow, even if they had to sit on the floor. Extra screenings had to be held to accommodate people who did not get tickets to Good Will Hunting or the Iranian film The Apple.

It must have been like a dream for the festival committee, who started organizing the event a year ago. Shanty Harmayn, the festival's director and co-founder, was inspired by the crowds that go to the annual British Film Festival or the French Film Festival here. She saw a potential segment in the city's moviegoing public for these kinds of personal, poignant films.

"We need some space for film appreciation," she said. "There is a need to be excited about films. That's what drove us into organizing this festival."

With her fellow founder Natacha Devillers, she began visiting film festivals in other countries, notably in Rotterdam and in Singapore, to get some idea of how to organize an event this extensive. Assisted by an army of helpers, most of them doing voluntary work, Harmayn set up a string of screenings of worthy films she saw at those festivals, and other films she heard of from magazines and the Internet.

Little did she and her colleagues know, that the one week of the festival, with most films only shown once, may not be enough for Jakarta's movie-hungry crowd. Take Juniel Harefa, a 31-year- old media consultant and movie buff, who reserved tickets to 14 different films as soon as he learned about the festival from distributed leaflets.

Harefa's venture to JIFFest was not without heartaches. First he got a sense of the organizers' unpreparedness when he had to struggle through the festival's single telephone line. When he did, a guy who knew nothing about tickets and what movies were playing, answered. After a subsequent try, Harefa got what he wanted, although he lost out on Good Will Hunting.

All through the week, Harefa left his office early to go to JIFFest. And it was a big payoff for him.

"I was fired from my previous occupation, so I knew what the characters of Brassed Off were feeling. But their spirit inspired me, and it's very encouraging," he said, referring to the film about Yorkshire mine workers who suddenly find themselves unemployed after the mine in their little town is closed down.

It certainly took a lot of work for the organizers to achieve such audience satisfaction. Much of the hard work came from the transportation of films from the airport to the festival venues. Abdoeh Aziz, the festival's film traffic supervisor, said that 35 films came from 15 countries. And they did not come in one day.

"Some of these films are in circulation, from one international film festival to another," he said. "So there's no way to arrange for them to come all at once. Even after the festival rolled, we were still receiving movies."

Thus, Aziz found DHL, the festival's main sponsor, was most helpful in relieving some of the pain.

"Those guys stood by 24 hours at the company's airport office, informing us of any incoming film print. We went there, we just paid the deposit for temporary export at customs, and we're all set. I've learned that each transportation costs about Rp 5 million. That DHL was willing to waive that in exchange for it being mentioned as the festival's main sponsor is truly a blessing."

The festival's success is encouraging to many people, including Harris Lasmana from PT Camila Internusa Film, the company that runs the film distribution and exhibition in Indonesia.

"We tried to show quality films such as The Remains of the Day and Henry V in the past, and they were flops. But the success of Good Will Hunting, The Wings of the Dove and The Mighty indicates that now there is an audience for these kinds of films," he said, adding that his company would show all three films along with non-English Oscar darlings such as Life is Beautiful and Children from Heaven at local theaters in the near future.