JP/Y/FILML

JP/Y/FILML

Many local films released, but has quality improved?

Lisabona Rahman and
Paul F. Agusta
Contributors/Jakarta

Indonesian cinema saw an eventful year in 2005, with more than 50
titles either released or produced, making it the most prolific
year in Indonesia's film history in almost a decade.

The year's spate of releases began in February with the
premieres of Jatayu Films Panggung Pinggir Kali (Stage by the
River), a musical directed by veteran filmmaker Ucik Supra that
tells the rags-to-riches story of a dangdut singer, and
SinemArt's Tentang Dia (About Her) from popular director Rudy
Soedjarwo, a tale of friendship between two women brought
together by trauma and heartbreak.

Panggung had a rather unfortunate blink-and-you'll-miss-it run
in large theaters but was able to maintain a somewhat steady run
is the cheaper, smaller theaters within and outside of Jakarta.

Tentang Dia proved to be quite a box office draw, as well as a
merchandising coup, with a very popular soundtrack album by
singer Melly Goeslaw and a short story collection also by Melly,
featuring the story on which the film was based.

March saw the release of five films that varied in type and
appeal. First was Bobby Sandy's postcolonial melodrama Anne van
Jogja, followed by Pingkan Utari's Me vs. High Heels, a
successful adaptation of a highly popular teen novel.

Hanung Bramantyo's Catatan Akhir Sekolah (Notes from the End)
was about three best friends who are labeled as outcasts at their
school, while Fantasi (Fantasy) was a musical starring the
contestants of the Akademi Fantasi Indosiar talent show produced
by the TV station Indosiar.

Salto Films Banyu Biru, a surrealistic drama directed by Teddy
Soeriaatmadja was possibly the bravest and most original release
of the month, if not the year.

April welcomed the highly successful directorial debut of
Arisan coscreenwriter Joko Anwar in Janji Joni (Joni's Promise),
the story of a film reel delivery boy on a very bad day. Janji
also featured a popular soundtrack album that featured some of
the best artists in Jakarta's indie music scene.

That month also saw the repackaging and rerelease of last
year's controversial teen comedy from Multivision Plus Pictures
Buruan Cium Gue! (Kiss Me Quick!) into a tamer version titled
Satu Kecupan (Just One Kiss).

Recognition of local filmmakers

May saw an important milestone set by maker of short films
Edwin, whose Kara, The Daughter of a Tree, had the honor of being
the first Indonesian short film to be included in the Directors'
Fortnight at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France.

The two films released theatrically this month were Lovely
Luna, the feature-film debut of music video director Lasja Fauzia
that was based on yet another popular teen novel, and Inikah
Rasanya Cinta? (Is This How Love Feels?), an adaptation of a
popular teen TV drama directed for the screen by Ai Manaf.

June was marked by a quite uplifting achievement for the
Indonesian film scene. Director Ravi Bharwani's Impian Kemarau
(The Rainmaker) was selected as Best Film for the Asian New
Talent Award at the 8th Shanghai Film Festival.

Impian Kemarau is a very exotic depiction of a community
dealing with drought and the nation's politics, very much
reminiscent of Hindu aspects of Javanese culture.

The Indonesian film scene also witnessed the debut of director
Rako Prijanto with feature film Ungu Violet, a tearjerker set in
present-day Jakarta with adorable cinematography and appealing
character development.

In July director Riri Riza1s released Gie, a biopic of
Indonesian-Chinese student activist Soe Hok Gie. There was a
great response from audiences of all ages. Costing about Rp 7
billion to make, Gie is one of the most expensive contemporary
Indonesian films produced since 1998.

Despite public enthusiasm, critics had split opinions about
the film, making for a lively debate about the representation of
the most mysterious period in modern Indonesian history, namely
the alleged slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Indonesians
accused of being Communists.

Amid the unholy trinity of love, teenage romance and horror --
the predominant themes of this year's releases -- another film by
Riri Riza, Untuk Rena (For Rena) was released in time for the
Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan and Idul Fitri holiday in late
October, a kind of continuation of Garin Nugroho's offering last
year, Of Love and Eggs, which could well indicate the genesis of
a Ramadhan film genre in years to come.

Another theme raised quite often on the silver screen is drug
trafficking. One example is director Nanang Istiabudi's Detik
Terakhir (Final Moment), a story combining an insight into the
life of drug addicts, and lesbian love.

Controversy, JiFFest, overall conclusion

One of the most anticipated pics has been director Garin
Nugroho's Javanese opera-film Shinta Obong (an episode from the
Ramayana epic), produced at the invitation of U.S. opera director
Peter Sellars, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's
birth in Vienna.

Though still in the middle of production, the film has already
triggered a reaction from a Hindu organization claiming the
adaptation is misleading.

Finally, one of the highlights of the year: The Indonesian
Film Festival (FFI 2005) chose Gie as best picture and Hanung
Bramantyo (Brownies) as best director.

The festival jury was quoted as saying that Gie was awarded
best film on grounds that are quite irrelevant to film aesthetics
because the film proves that the young generation of Indonesian
filmmakers is brave enough to raise political issues.

It was therefore somewhat uprising that Gie was chosen as the
year's best film, and not Janji Joni, which, many would argue,
has content of greater interest, unique characters and better
story telling.

Another important year-end event was the highly successful
seventh year of the Jakarta International Film Festival
(JiFFest). This year's JiFFest shifted the focus more toward
documentaries and the holding of technical workshops by film and
television professionals from all over the world, rather than
feature films.

Another notable feature of this year's JiFFest was the
complete lack of Indonesian feature films at the festival, a
decision that produced some grumbles among industry folk.

JiFFest asserts that one of its functions as a festival is to
premiere films that have not been or could not be released at
theaters in Jakarta; however, all of this year's local
productions had been released prior to JiFFest and could not be
included.

The year 2005 will go down as an important one in the history
of the reemergence of Indonesian cinema, due to the quantity of
films made and released.

However, the question to ask at this point is whether quantity
alone is enough. Indeed there were a lot of films made but what
of their artistic merit? Were filmmakers producing lightweight
works merely to draw in larger audiences?

Hopefully, next year will bring a stronger focus on quality as
well as quantity.