'Revolusi Harapan' wins gold medal at Brno contest

JAKARTA (JP): Nanang Istiabudi's short film Revolusi Harapan (Revolution of Hope) won a gold medal and a special prize at the 39th Brno 16 International Competition of Non-Commercial Feature Films and Video at Brno Cultural and Information Center in Czech.

The 21-minute film won Best Film in the Amateur category on Sunday after competing with 52 other short films from various countries in the final, Nanang said in a facsimile sent from Prague on Tuesday.

In his film, Nanang shows how people critical of social conditions are murdered. Nobody knows when or why they are killed. What is more tragic is the fact that nobody seems to care.

"The film is merely fictional... but it is based on common happenings during the Soeharto regime," according to the pamphlet about the film.

Revolusi Harapan, as well as Altamira by Attila Mispal from Hungary, won special prize awards for being the most interesting films at the festival.

Nanang won 10,000 koruna (US$357).

The gold medal for Independent Professional category was presented to Freedom, My Love by Jean Luc Geget of France, Bonfire Night by Sharon Amrani from Egypt won the gold medal in the Student category. I'm Starving by Yau Ching from U.S. and Owl's River by Daniel Svatek from Czech won silver medals in the Independent Professional category and Amateur category respectively. The silver medals in the Student category went to three young directors from Greece, the U.S. and Switzerland.

The top prize was awarded to Le Souffle d'Elian's by Cimon Charest of Canada.

Nanang's Revolusi Harapan emerged the winner in the Short Film Festival organized by the Jakarta Arts Council earlier this year. Nanang has made three other films: Tembang Senja (Twilight Song, 1992), Tembang Kecil dari Sudut Kota (The Down Town Blues, 1995) and Siklus (The Cycle, 1996). He produced these while a student at the Jakarta Arts Institute's School of Film and Television.

Revolusi Harapan is about people's hopes to express their ideas. The film shows that freedom of expression only works on paper and cannot be implemented in real life.

The short film was financed collectively by Nanang and the actors, who call themselves God Spirits Production. The film was also entered in several other international festivals, including in Croatia and Belgium. (Gotot Prakoso)