JIFFest 1999 inspires local film industry

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.