JP/19/NELDEN

JP/19/NELDEN

Danusiri's 'Lukas' Moment' has homeland premiere

Nelden Djakababa
Contributor/Jakarta

Not too many of us are aware that this year, a 60-minute
documentary film by an Indonesian has been screened at six film
festivals in Europe.

Festivals in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Berlin, Finland and Norway
have all included Lukas' Moment: A Journey Between Hope and
Desperation (2005) on their official selection list.

The film, set in Payum, Merauke, West Papua, received the Best
Student Award at the Royal Anthropological Institute Film
Festival in Oxford, UK.

Fortunately for us here, Moment will have its Indonesian
premiere at Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest). And
like most documentaries screened at the festival, it can be
viewed for free.

So why the minimal publicity in Indonesia so far?

"Maybe it's because I've just recently returned home," says
film-maker Aryo Danusiri with a laugh. Having finished his
undergraduate studies at University of Indonesia's Department of
Anthropology, he furthered his studies for a master's in Tromso,
Norway. Moment is part of his final assignment at the program,
along with a written thesis.

There is some noticeable departure of theme and approach
between Moment and Aryo's earlier works. In his documentaries on
Aceh, made in 1999, 2000 and 2003, for example, the underlying
frame of the stories was the prolonged conflict in Aceh, and the
human-rights abuse that laces it.

In Moment, however, Danusiri chooses to follow young Marind
fisherman Lukas Gebze, 20, who lives in Payum, near Merauke, and
is struggling to become an entrepreneur.

"My main interest is to portray minority and under-represented
groups, be it in Aceh or Papua, or anywhere else," Danusiri
explains. He admits, however, that there is a conscious shift in
how he chooses to frame the stories.

In his previous Aceh documentaries, he tried to show the
impact of gross human-rights violations. "But in doing so, I've
inadvertently reproduced that violence in the (film) images."

In Moment, Danusiri aims to capture the complexities faced by
Lukas and those around him, in their everyday life. You will not
find any stereotypical references to the horror of the conflict
in Papua here.

"I have to say that this is more challenging for me, and
definitely more difficult to secure funding for such project,
compared to films with themes like gross human-rights
violations," he chuckles.

"I was lucky to be able to do this project, because it was
part of my (master program) final assignment. I had a scholarship
to do this."

Another noticeable difference between Moment and his previous
projects was the way he approached the characters and the stories
they told. Previous films were packed with interviews, with
scenes of daily life serving only as transitions between them, or
as backdrops.

In contrast, Moment does not present too many direct
interviews. Rather, it includes several prolonged scenes set in a
single space, and thus viewers may witness the story, complete
with its surprising twists, gradually unfolding as it occurs in
real-life pace, instead of being given too much explanation.

Some critics might see this as a liability if this film is to
be presented to cinema audiences that are generally assumed to
have a short attention span.

Interestingly, though, this approach has managed to maintain
the suspense level as the plot unravels, without
overdramatization. Thus, it becomes difficult not to care what
happens to Lukas and the other characters.

"After this piece, I'd like to use a similar approach to
tackle the issues of women, and of Islam in Indonesia. These are
also underrepresented groups I'm interested in.

"So far, I've observed that their portrayal tends to be
oversimplified," concludes Danusiri, without being too specific
about his plans for future projects.

Lukas' Moment will be filmed at JiFFest at Teater Kecil-TIM
(Taman Ismail Marzuki) on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7.00 p.m.;
Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 2.00 p.m.; and on Friday, Dec. 16 at 9.30
p.m. For complete information on JiFFest, visit www.jiffest.org
or contact the hotline on 3192 5115.