KKF festival to honor best local films

KKF festival to honor best local films

By Gotot Prakosa

JAKARTA (JP): Illegal VCDs are easily found in shops and along
the sidewalks here. They are even available in remote villages.
The poor sound and picture of these illegal VCDs are appropriate,
since the majority of these films are not good, as judged by the
standards of film esthetics.

In fact, many films shown in the cinemas and which later
become available on laser disc, VCDs or television are commercial
products with a view only to financial gain, neglecting educative
and aesthetic elements. What is shown is everything which does
not represent the positive elements of the growth of a nation's
culture.

Violence and pornography often dominate. According to
producers and brokers, it is exactly these kinds of films that
are sought by the public. Therefore the import of such films is
difficult to stop. Another factor is the absence of quality
choices. Film lovers can only get what is available on the
market.

Therefore, efforts are needed to introduce various genres of
film to the public. This should start with a number of good film
forms which also represent the scope of a nation's culture. The
introduction of different genres of film would enable the public
to make comparisons with films that are mere commodities.

The Kine Klub (KKF) offers an alternative way to look for
different genres of film. It provides at the same time a balance
to the various global trends one finds in cinemas, on television,
at video stores and on the illegal VCD market.

The club is an association of people who love films. They
share as their common objective the desire to organize
exhibitions and other activities which will help the community
develop an appreciation for quality films.

The Indonesian Kine Klub National Secretariat, with unites
over 100 Kine Klubs from 14 provinces across the country, is
currently organizing the 2000 Kine Klub Film Festival. The event
will essentially carry on the tradition of the Indonesian Film
Festival, which saw its demise in 1992. All films produced since
1993 will be eligible for the competition.

The festival will bestow Kine Klub Awards in the categories of
best director, best script writer, best screen writer, best actor
and actress, favorite actor and actress, best sound, best
editing, life-time achievement director and life-time achievement
actor and actress.

Unfortunately, there have been few films produced in the past
decade, and most of them fall into the category of soft-
pornography.

Fourteen films have been nominated for the awards and they
will be screened at Gedung Film, Jl. MT Haryono, South Jakarta,
from Feb. 23 to Feb. 25. During this same period, Pusat Perfilman
Usmar Ismail on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, will feature a
film retrospective.

The awards will be presented on Feb. 26, and the ceremony will
be broadcast by a private television station.

Apart from showing quality films not available in cinemas or
on video, the Kine Klub offers other activities related to film,
including organizing workshops for its members.

Jakarta boasts dozens of Kine Klubs. In addition, there are
now so-called cultural pockets such as Teater Utan Kayu (TUK),
Lingkar Mitra Budaya, art galleries (which often organize film
programs) and campuses. Bandung has the ITB Kine Klub, Salatiga
the Satyawacana Kine Klub, Yogyakarta the Bulaksumur Kine Klub,
Semarang has SIFILMS and there are Kine Klubs in Bali, Lombok and
several cities in Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

These clubs exist mainly in larger cities. Someday, the main
towns in regencies may also boast Kine Klubs. It is earnestly
hoped that this will be followed by the establishment of Kine
Klubs in smaller towns. The objective is to create a balance with
the commercial films which continue to inundate the country's
cinemas.

Kine Klubs or cultural pockets in the regions may someday be
organized and independent of Jakarta, forming an alternative film
network managed in a semi-professional way. This would mean that
their activities would be limited to members who pay a small fee
to, say, rent a film. Thus, the Kine Klubs would provide an
alternative distribution network for filmmakers, thus enabling
these artists to continue creating their works.

Each Kine Klub in the region would grow and set critical
standards for the films to be shown. Members of the clubs would
also be able to study filmmaking themselves at workshops
organized by the clubs. Film could then grow across Indonesia and
describe the variety of thoughts prevailing across this vast
archipelago we all share. That is the sincere hope of film
lovers.

The Kine Klub of the Jakarta Arts Council was established in
1968 and continues to present selected films today. However, its
limitations are clear. The films it shows are mostly obtained
from embassies and foreign cultural institutes in Jakarta. A
number of years ago its activities moved to the H. Umar Ismail
film center, because the Jakarta Arts Council no longer has a
proper venue for showing films since a number of its buildings in
the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center were demolished to make way
for more modern buildings. The economic crisis, sadly, forced
construction to halt, leaving a water-filled hole like a giant
fish pond where the foundation for the new building was to go.