JIFFest back for the fourth time
JIFFest back for the fourth time
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The time has come for movie buffs to enjoy quality movies from
around the globe as the fourth annual Jakarta International Film
Festival (JIFFest) will kick off on Thursday, all the way to Nov.
3, presenting some 120 films from 29 countries.
The films will be screened at Pusat Perfilman Usmar Ismail
(PPHUI), Erasmus Huis and Gedung Dua8 in South Jakarta; Graha
Bhakti Budaya at the Ismail Marzuki arts center, New Goethe
Institute, Bali Room Hotel Indonesia, TIM 21 and Senayan 21 movie
theaters, and Instituto Italiano di Cultura -- all in Central
Jakarta.
Indian drama Monsoon Wedding, by leading director Mira Nair,
will kick off the festival at the outdoor amphitheater of Museum
Nasional, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat No. 12, Central Jakarta, for
invited guests only on Thursday night.
Presenting a brush of Indian contemporary life with
traditional values, the film won the Golden Lion at last year's
Venice International Film Festival and was a surprise hit at the
American box office.
As there has always been a specific main theme for the
festival; this year's presents "Multiculturalism: Celebrating
Diversity", with a selection of strong films that cover issues
ranging from the clash of civilization to displacement, Diaspora
and indigenous people.
One of the films is Dans Tanovic's No Man's Land, a feature
debut about the Balkan conflict, recognized as Best Foreign
Language Film at this year's Academy Awards.
Other films that match the theme are Beneath the Clouds from
Australian Ivan Sen, about a half-Aboriginal girl, and Sherine
Salama's Wedding Ramalah, the first Australian film on Palestine.
Other highlights include 2002 Cannes Jury prizewinner, Ella
Suleiman's Divine Intervention, about a Palestinian couple
separated by the nations' border.
For its fourth running, JIFFest collaborates with the Yap
Thiam Hien human rights award in presenting a selection of films
with a human rights theme.
"This is the second year of the human rights section. We've
decided that human rights will be a regular section in JIFFest.
It is also the purpose from the Yap Thiam Hien award to spread
the issue of human rights through film, as it is an effective
medium," said festival cofounder Shanty Harmayn.
The section features films such as Edet Belzber's Children
Underground, the winner of Best Documentary at the 2000 Sundance
Film Festival, which portrays the lives of five runaway children
in Romania.
Another regular section in the festival is New Indonesian
Cinema, with a focus on emerging Indonesian filmmaking in the
documentary field.
JIFFest is premiering several documentaries, such as Lexy
Junior Rambadeta's 2.5 Billion Dollars for the State and Gadis
Arivia's Perempuan di Wilayah Konflik (Women at the Conflict
Zone).
The Indonesian cinema section also features the work of late
director Teguh Karya and animated films by young filmmakers.
Other sections in JIFFest are films on corruption, issues in
contemporary Islamic culture, youth in frame, anime (Japanese
animation), world cinema, U.S. independent, focus on Mira Nair,
new Asian cinema, retrospective on Francois Truffaut, Harun
Farocki Films, contemporary Japanese and indigenous Australia.
The festival also presents several fringe events, from
seminars to workshops and a chance to meet filmmakers whose films
are being screened at the festival.
The festival will close with Tropic Emerald, a historical epic
of 1940s Indonesia from Dutch filmmaker Orlow Seuke.
Tickets are Rp 15,000 (US$1.6) per movie, and can be obtained
now until Oct. 23 at Jl. Sutan Syahrir 1 C Blok 3-4, Central
Jakarta; KOI Restaurant, Jl. Mahakam I/2 and Aksara Bookstore,
Jl. Kemang Raya No. 8B, South Jakarta.
Starting Oct. 25, all tickets will be available at the main
ticket office at PPHUI or at each venue's ticket office an hour
before the start of the films.
For more information, visit www.jiffest.com or call the
JIFFest hotline on (021) 83708877 and 83708899.