Lintang: A scriptwriter and short film director
By Tuti Gintini
JAKARTA (JP): Among the promising young directors who have recently made independent films is Lintang Pramudya Wardani, 23. Even though she majors in script-writing at the School of Cinematography at the Jakarta Arts Institute, she has managed to make the film on celluloid tape.
Untuk Secangkir Kopi (For a Cup of Coffee) is a short film Lintang has just finished at her own cost. "I saved my money for two years to make this short film and I've spent about Rp 20 million," she said.
According to Lintang, in general young directors finance the making of their films themselves. They raise the money by making commercials and sinetron (teleseries). It's only after they get enough money that they can make the film.
And they can only produce 30-minute short films. Fortunately, these films are often screened at the annual film festival held by an independent film association in Jakarta. The festival has encouraged them and has become a barometer for their work. Some good films are sent to film festivals with a wider scope, like experimental and independent film festivals in Europe.
"There are no sponsors for film production. Companies prefer to finance music concerts," she said.
Lintang is satisfied that she was able to write the scenario and is relieved that her film has been completed. "Since I was a small girl I always wanted to be a film director and scriptwriter. I feel satisfied when I succeed to create characters and events," she said.
The problem of women and their world is clearly described in the film. The woman in Untuk Secangkir Kopi is depicted not as a tearful character. Lintang always depicts women as people with principles and strength.
The film is about a husband and wife who live separately. One day the husband yearns for a cup of coffee made by his wife. When the husband goes to his wife's home, she does not show any excitement. Also, when she makes a cup of coffee for him, she does it without any affection, and even spits in the coffee in the kitchen before serving it.
"The film's message for women is that women should not be fragile, or easily weakened by praise," she said.
Lintang has entered the film in the Independent Film Festival in Jakarta in October.
Recently she won a citation in a script-writing contest organized by the Jakarta Council of the Arts. The script, titled Di balik Jendela Astrid (Behind Astrid's Window), depicts an financially secure career woman named Astrid who does not have a social life. She always stays in her apartment after she gets home from work, and sometimes watches the world from her apartment window.
She is a woman who likes to write -- she also writes short stories for various magazines and has written a screenplay on narcotics counseling, which was produced by the Penabur Christian School. This is a film for senior high-school students who don't like to be patronized let alone forbidden to do certain things. Through this film, she presents a well-behaved teenage girl from a good family who falls in love with a man who persuades her to take drugs.
"I'd like to point out that even a girl of good character can fall into the drug trap if she is not wary," said Lintang, who is currently participating in a short film workshop sponsored by the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta.