JiFFest 2004 honors young film makers
JiFFest 2004 honors young film makers
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Besides screening selected films from world-class filmmakers, the 2004 Jakarta International Film Festival also opened the door to young filmmakers to showcase their works to compete for prestigious awards.
This was warmly welcomed by amateur filmmakers who rarely get a chance to screen their works here. A total of 69 short documentary films and 115 short fiction films were submitted to JiFFest, which later picked 10 finalists in the short documentary category and nine in the short fiction film category.
The proud filmmakers included Lexi Junior Rambadetta, whose film Youth on The Edge was named the 2004 JiFFest Best Short Documentary Film and won the In-Docs Award.
Dendy Chusnawan's Pagi dan Edelweis (The morning and edelweis) got the Panda Award for a film with an environmental theme.
Tjandra Wibowo won the Femme Film Award for Anganku (My illusion); Irwan D. Nuryadi's I am Sawunggalih Selatan, Sawunggalih Selatan I am received a Special Jury Mention, as did Kelompok DUA Kespro with Yani and Sarman.
In the short fiction film category Stop Human Cloning by Wahyu Aditya won the JiFFest Short Fiction Award Grand Prize. It was followed by Edwin's Dajang Soembi, Perempuan Jang Dikawini Anjing (Dajang Soembi, a woman who was married to a dog), and Mengejar Terbit (Chasing the rise) by Ivan Poetra.
Young director Riri Riza, director of Thai Short Film and Video Festival Chalida Uabumrungjit and Dutch director Joram Lursen were judges in this category.
Senior Kompas journalist Maria Hartiningsih, who was a member of the panel of judges for the short documentary films, said Lexi's Youth on The Edge, had a bright theme, for he succeeded in uncovering what was hidden beneath the "thick carpet" of Indonesia's exotic culture.
From an early age the Bima people of West Nusa Tenggara have been exposed to violence and this has become a serious, deep- rooted problem. They are accustomed to the principle of an eye for an eye, she said.
"Visually, Lexi manages to portray the interesting paradox between judi (gambling) and ngaji (reciting the Koran) as well as the beauty of words and the reality," Maria added as quoted in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post.
Malaysian director Amir Mahmud and local director Tonny Trimarsanto also awarded Lexi for the category. Beside the award Lexi also received a Rp 6 million cash prize and the In-Docs Abroad scholarship for 2005.
The two films that received special jury mention, I am Sawunggaling Selatan, Sawunggaling Selatan I am and Yani and Sarman both focused on social realities.