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.