Reformulating policy on film imports

Reformulating policy on film imports

JAKARTA (Antara): Importing films is a never-ending problem in Indonesia. Numerous decrees have been issued by the Ministry of Information but the problem lingers.

Importers of foreign films freely violate the regulations because the government lacks consistency in enforcing the law. Ironically, some government bureaucrats cleverly exploit this complex problem. Recently, the government revealed that irregularities in film imports had cost it Rp 43.3 billion.

The problem can probably be traced back to the 18th century when foreigners, mainly the Dutch, Indians and Chinese, controlled the cinema business.

Following the screening of the first locally-made film on Dec. 4, 1900, foreign films flooded into the country.

The presence of more locally produced films in the 1930s did not effect the importers' interest in buying foreign films. Movie theaters mushroomed, and they were all owned by foreigners and screened imported films only.

The first edition of Bandung-based newspaper Panorama on Aug. 27, 1927 noted that 85 percent of the movie theaters in the Dutch East Indies were owned by Chinese businesses.

According to statistics from 1953, there were 513 movie theaters throughout Indonesia, and the number of imported films screened in these theaters was over 2,000 annually, much higher than the number of locally produced films screened (see Table below).

The ownership pattern of theaters created a division of classes among movie theaters, depending on facilities, location and films screened. Unlike imported films, Indonesian films were generally screened in third-class movie theaters.

Protests against the unfair treatment of locally made films climaxed in the 1960s with the establishment of the Committee for the Annihilation of Imperialist American Films (Papfias), which was associated with the Indonesian Communist Party.

Papfias was founded to follow up on the PKI-linked People's Culture Institute's (Lekra) demand that the government disband the American Motion Pictures Producers Association of Indonesia (AMPPAI).

Lekra saw AMPPAI as monopolizing the importation of films from the United States and Europe, as well as the distribution of the films to local movies across Indonesia.

Led by RHA Hidayat and cinema activists like Sitor Situmorang, one of Indonesia's first scriptwriters, Papfias moved to close down movie theaters which screened mostly imported films.

Papfias' aggressive move cut the number of cinemas from 890 to 700 in 1964. By the end of the 1960s, after the botched communist coup attempt, only 350 cinemas remained.

Then information minister BM Diah established the National Film Production Council in 1968. This was disbanded in 1969 by his successor, Boedihardjo, who replaced it with the National Film Council in 1971 through a ministerial decree.

The decree regulated the use of funds collected from film importers and managed by the National Film Council. The money was to be used for the production, distribution and screening of locally produced films. Under the decree, national film producers were entitled to a maximum of Rp 7.5 million in loans from the council.

Then in 1975, the minister of information, minister of home affairs and minister of education and culture issued a joint decree cutting the quota of imported films from 600 to 400 titles a year.

The joint decree also required movie theaters to screen national films twice a month for at least two days. Everyone who imported 10 films was required to export one local film.

The regulation was good, but it failed in its implementation and was ignored by theater owners.

The owners argued that not all moviegoers enjoyed watching local films and not all locally produced films were worth seeing.

The imported film quota was cut again in 1977 from 400 to 300 titles a year and was further reduced in the 1980s. But these moves were not followed by the tightening of the number of copies of a film importers were allowed to have. When the quota was set at 400 titles in 1974, importers were allowed to have only two copies of a film, but when the quota was further reduced to 170 titles per year, importers were allowed to have up to 18 copies of a film. This allowed foreign films to continue to dominate local movie theaters.

The presence of the Motion Picture Export Association of America (MPEAA) has further hampered the development of the local film industry. This association is viewed in the same light as AMPPAI was before the government banned it in the 1960s. Local film activists have demanded that the government ban MPEAA.

But unlike AMPPAI, MPEAA cannot be banned because the U.S. government has threatened to impose sanctions on Indonesia through Super Act 301 if MPEAA is disbanded. This act is a quasi agreement that facilitates Indonesian imports to the U.S., which in turn is allowed to distribute films in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government seems powerless to manage the affairs of its film industry. This condition is aggravated by the presence of the Cinema 21 chain which controls first-class cinemas in major town across Indonesia. There is no way a local film can be screened in this chain unless it is considered "salable".

To minimize possible financial losses, the Cinema 21 chain under the Subentra group seeks profit-sharing agreements with local film producers/owners before screening local films. This is what it did with Christine Hakim for her film Daun di Atas Bantal (Leaf on a Pillow). Under the agreement, proceeds from ticket sales were divided among Subentra, which received 45 percent of the revenue, the government, which got 5 percent, and the film's producer/owner, which received 50 percent of the ticket sales.

However, the problem is not only with the quota of foreign titles and the presence of the Cinema 21 chain, but also with the collection of funds and management of the local industry.

Ishadi, the then director general for radio, television and film, revealed in 1998 financial irregularities in the National Film Development Agency (BP2N) between 1971 and 1998.

He estimated that over this 28-year period, the tax that the government should have collected from each copy of imported films amounted to Rp 46.3 billion, but only Rp 3 billion of this money was accounted for.

The funds were earmarked for the development of the national film industry, including sending people in the industry abroad to study and providing funds for film production.

BP2N has funded the production of several films over the years. For instance, it gave Slamet Rahardjo Rp 250 million for the production of Telegram and another Rp 250 million to Christine Hakim for Daun di Atas Bantal.

Johan Tjasmadi, who chaired BP2N from 1995 to 1998, said he was unaware of the Rp 43 billion allegedly missing from the organization's coffers. He said the funds were managed by a special secretariat whose membership consisted of representatives from the information ministry who were directly appointed by the minister.

Rosihan Anwar, deputy chief of BP2N, also ducked for cover when asked about the alleged corruption. He said the agency's financial affairs were overseen by the information ministry.

Maybe the missing Rp 43 billion could be the result of BP2N having no authority to manage its funds.

Like a host of other corruption cases in Indonesia, there is little effort being made to investigate the case.

It is high time for the government in this era of reform to clean up the mess in the film industry.

Table: Number of national and imported films 1950-1955

C'try of origin 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 -------------------------------------------------------- Indonesia 459 465 592 152 180 176 India 55 70 58 56 150 311 China 113 317 316 204 106 116 United States 2092 2382 2568 2132 1391 1501 Britain 457 290 383 275 306 330 The Netherlands 377 265 195 135 189 106 Soviet Union 15 35 6 9 57 51 Italy 7 11 22 28 34 56 France 54 27 40 35 31 22

Source : Statistical pocketbook of Indonesia.