Local talent gets filmmaking course

Tue, 13 Dec 2005, 00:00 WIB | Source: JP

Aiming to prove that the Jakarta International Film Festival
(JiFFest) is not just about screening films for entertainment but
also about functioning as a catalyst for the development of the
country's burgeoning film industry, organizers of the festival
are holding three workshops for local filmmakers.

With renowned film professionals acting as tutors in the
workshops, JiFFest plans to offer technical know-how on
filmmaking to local filmmakers.

Starting on Monday, film industry big names such as Australian
producer Curtis Levy, documentary film director Graeme Isaac and
Dutch director Leonardo Retel Hemrich will share their knowledge
on writing good scripts and how to spend money on big-budget
films.

Most recently released local films have suffered from poor
screenplays; what results is logic-defying storylines. Most of
the films also lack sustainable funding.

Among local names that have been declared eligible to join the
workshop are director Nan Triveni Achnas, animated-film director
Tintin Wulia, actress Paquita Widjaya-Afief, director in a number
of sinetron (local soap operas) Putu Kusuma Wijaya and Video Babe
production house cofounder Ariani Darmawan.

Workshop participants were required to submit scripts for
their planned films and will get a chance to improve them under
guidance of the tutors.

Shorlisted participants can compete for prize money totaling
30,000 euros, enough to finance their submitted project.

(The workshops, at Hotel Nikko, Central Jakarta, are open to the
public. Click on www.jiffest.org for further details.)