Lights, curtains: JIFFest

Lights, curtains: JIFFest

John Badalu, Contributor/Jakarta

The Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFEST) is returning
with a vengeance, from Dec. 3 through Dec. 12.

Much larger than last year's, it features 130 films divided
into a number of categories, like features, documentaries,
experimental and short films.

The festival will open with Wolfgang Becker's Goodbye Lenin!,
which won the Golden Bear for best feature film at last year's
Berlin Film Festival.

A fine blend of melodrama, comedy and satire, the film -- a
feel-good flick that jokes about the stereotypes of East and West
Berliners -- is set in the period just before the fall of the
Berlin Wall.

Taking the theme, "youth", JIFFEST offers some interesting
insights into the lives of young people from different countries.

Michael Winterbottom's In This World is about a boy traveling
from Afghanistan to London, while Michael Gondry's Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an absolutely refreshing, yet
bizarre love story, starring Jim Carey and Kate Winslet.

Also worth watching are some exciting film retrospectives from
Indonesian writer-directors, such as Usmar Ismail and Sjuman
Djaja, plus a series of award-winning films from Italian director
Gianni Amelio.

The European Union Film Festival is being staged in
conjunction with JIFFest this year, with strong selections in
store, like Dirty Pretty Things from UK-based Stephen Frears and
Lilja 4-Ever by Lukas Moodysson from Sweden.

Aside from the screenings, numerous fringe events may be of
particular interest to film devotees.

The Third Asia-Europe Film Development Plan Meeting will be
attended by about 50 young producers from Europe and Asia, eager
to exchange ideas.

An exhibition of photo stills from recent Indonesian film
productions makes an interesting insight into the industry here,
featuring talented photographers like Imelda Stefanni, M. Iqbal,
Paul Kadarisman and Timur Angin.

There is much more to discover at JIFFest. For more
information, visit the website: www.jiffest.org

JIFFEST schedule, more stories on pages 17, 19