JiFFest to be sorely missed

JiFFest to be sorely missed

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

There is one movie buff who came all the way from Australia and
another who came from Bandung, West Java.

They, and many others, came to Jakarta to see the screenings
of films at the seventh Jakarta International Film Festival
(JiFFest) -- a rare chance to see more than 200 top-notch films
from over thirty countries.

Such was the draw that JiFFest has managed to bring to film
buffs here, who have long been bombarded by the mainstream
Hollywood films or imitations of those produced by local
filmmakers.

JiFFest, which wrapped up on Sunday night with the screening
of the German film Der Untergang (The Downfall) featured none of
those dumbing-down films, but instead some of best from a variety
of countries such as France's Le Grand Voyage (The Grand Journey)
and UK's The Constant Gardener.

For more than a week it had become the city's major
attraction, with JiFFest venues at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM),
Djakarta Theater and a number of European cultural centers here
always teeming with enthusiastic moviegoers.

Theaters 1 and 2 at TIM, the venue for screenings of
documentary films were most often standing-room-only affairs.

Not only because the screenings were free of charge, but
because the films that were projected on the big screen
collectively made up one of finest collections of high-quality,
thought-provoking documentaries seen in many years. Of particular
note were Mark Achbar's The Corporation, Robert Greenwald's
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism or Joe Berlinger's
and Bruce Sinofsky's Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster.

In the screening of Outfoxed, for instance, free passes were
snapped up 30 minutes before the film started and only a small
number of moviegoers left their seats, as is the custom among
most Indonesians, while the credits were rolling at the end.

"Anyone, especially journalists and journalism students,
should see this movie," Fandi, a student of Bandung-based
Padjajaran University, said.

Outfoxed aims to show that Fox newschannel's slogan of fair
and balanced reporting is just a sham.

Some of the documentaries at JiFFest, however were not shown,
apparently due to technical problems. Passabe, a documentary
about a village on the border of Indonesia and Timor Leste by
Singaporean filmmakers James Leong and Lynn Lee was banned by the
local Film Censor Board (LSF) because it was deemed "too
sensitive" for the population of this country.

At TIM 3 and TIM 4, although the number of moviegoers were
much less than the documentary filmgoers, there was a constant
flow of people coming and going to see feature films, an usher
told The Jakarta Post.

"At least the first four rows were always occupied. But it is
also depends on what movie's being screened," he clarified.

Film screenings at TIM 3 and TIM 4 charged a small admission
fee.

In the course of 10 days, more than 35,000 people saw films
screened at JiFFest, exceeding a projection of 30,000. Over 1,400
membership cards were distributed as well.

Despite the enthusiasm, there is no assurance that JiFFest
will be held next year due to logistical problems.

The brains behind JiFFest, Orlow Seunke and Shanty Harmayn,
said before JiFFest kicked off that they would resign from
managing the festival, given the difficulties in collecting money
to put it on.

Film director Douglas Crawford, whose film The Punks Are
Alright was screened at the festival, said that it will be a
terrible loss for the country should there be no JiFFest next
year.

"This is crazy, this is the fourth largest country in the
world and there is only one film festival? JiFFest is even too
small for a country this big. How will people know about the
outside world if there is no JiFFest?" he queried.