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.