Riri taps into the feminine mystique

Riri taps into the feminine mystique

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At this point in his life, director/producer Riri Riza, 32,
has come to the conclusion that being a woman is far more
difficult and challenging than being a man.

It's a realization that came after working on several films,
both features and documentaries.

"If you notice, the main characters in most of my films are
women," said the talented filmmaker.

The list include 2000's hit children's musical drama
Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventure), which he directed, and
this year's popular teen flick Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What's Up
With Cinta?).

For the latter, he acted as a producer, along with colleague
Mira Lesmana from Miles Production.

Riri is now back with another directorial work, Eliana Eliana,
which he also co-wrote.

Slated to be released here in mid-June, the film earned him
two awards at last month's Singapore Film Festival: the Young
Cinema Award and Netpac (the Network for the Promotion of Asian
Cinema) Award.

We met recently when Riri had just returned from picking up
his award in Singapore. Below is an excerpt of the interview.

Question: So, what is Eliana Eliana all about?

Answer: It's about a young woman named Eliana who ran away to
Jakarta from her widowed mother in her West Sumatra hometown.

It's set on one night, when Bunda (mother) comes to Jakarta.
They meet and are on a taxi ride all nightlong. Eliana just wants
to prove that she is surviving, is OK, independent and has
discovered what it is to be a human being.

It's a very simple story, because I decided that it was going
to be a low budget film, an exploration of digital video media. I
wanted it to be raw, real and different.

The concept is in line with the i-sinema manifesto (made by
several young filmmakers several years back to liberate
Indonesian cinema). The manifesto aimed at exploring the media of
film, and one important aspect is a low budget.

Compared to Sherina and Ada Apa which cost from Rp 2.5 billion
to Rp 4 billion, Eliana only costs a total of Rp 800 million.

What is it with the repetition of the title?

Because the people, the female characters around Eliana, are
also called Eliana. They have a similar fate, dilemma, problems
and conflicts.

Why are you suddenly interested in women from West Sumatra?

I'm married to one! From what I'v seen and learned, their lot
is very interesting. They have this strong position in the
society, given its matrilineal culture.

But on the other hand, they still face stereotypes and
obstacles because Islam and the patriarchal culture are also
deeply rooted. That's the interesting complexity.

Is there any particular moment or event which made you
interested in women's issues in general?

It just happened. The role of my mother in my life has been
very big to me. I also worked with Mira Lesmana, who's a woman.

I may make several other films about mother-child
relationships because, for me, it's very personal. And in this
male-dominated and predominantly Muslim society, those issues
will not be seen critically.

I think that's the mission of a filmmaker, to raise an issue
in society to make people aware of it.

How much did your recent studies affect you in making this
film? (Riri holds an M.A. in feature film writing from Royal
Holloway University of London, after receiving a Chevening
scholarship from the British government).

Basically, I know more about how things work and how things
don't work after school. Because I got intensive exposure to
screenplay, story and character. I think that's the most
important thing. That's my main concern.

A film won't become anything without a good screenplay, no
matter how spectacular the special effects or cinematography are.

With the success of Sherina, Ada Apa and then Jelangkung by
Rizal Mantovani, do you think there will be a revival of the film
industry here?

To revive or not is not my business. I'm going to do it
anyway. A lot of people talk about revival but, apparently,
that's not important for filmmakers.

I made Kuldesak with my colleagues in 1998, without any
promise from anyone that it's going to be seen. Nobody cares.

Even after Sherina and Ada Apa, the attitude is still the
same. The government doesn't really care whether local films
exist or not. Neither do the film organizations.

What is refreshing for us is that, suddenly, there's a craving
and trust for local film.

But still, I think it's dangerous if we make a film just for
the sake of getting a big audience. We have to have this basic
restlessness that we have to make films. That there's a story
that has to be told, a situation that must be exposed.

What do you think about your fellow filmmakers?

The most important thing is that they've now start to regain
self-confidence. That all the hard work is worthwhile. People now
don't consider that filmmaking is futile.

My colleagues have seen the potential, that wide-screen movies
present a new way of freedom of expression. Because, unlike TV,
there's no such thing as certain rules and norms. You can do
whatever genre, whatever story, whatever size of production you
want.

With the success of your films, is it easier for you to find
funding?

Not really. Unless if I want to make sequels to Sherina and
Ada Apa. A lot of people are offering funding for that, but we
don't want to do that.

If we make a proposal to them, investors still ask: "Why on
earth do you want to make this kind of movie?" Suddenly, they are
smarter than us!

Of course, we can do sequels, but the thing is, we want to do
other concepts with other challenges, with other possibilities of
different markets.

Fortunately, there are still parties who still believe in us.
I got funding for Eliana before Ada Apa was released, so it's
not because of the success.

When we want to make Ada Apa, some media observers told us
that even the teen media were struggling in recent years. But we
had a story that we believed, that we felt the vibes when we read
it. That's the most important thing.

Of course, I always have doubts. After all, there's no such
thing as certainty in this still very fragile country.

So, there will be no sequels?

I'm thinking of another children's play because our children
need it. Maybe still with Sherina, but no sequel. Like how
Shirley Temple did different things..

But Sherina is getting older now ...

True. Well, maybe teen Sherina, or coming-of-age Sherina!

Speaking about Miles, how is it doing so far? Is it
financially promising?

Very unpromising, to tell you the truth. Even after the last
two films, which were successful, we still need investors.

The box-office revenue is not big, because we have to pay
taxes, and then share it with many people.

Financially, it's not big, but we have 100 percent freedom.
That's priceless. It's a very small company but very independent.
We also have another division to make video clips, documentaries
or commercials.

Is it difficult to find human resources?

Not anymore. Because TV commercials are booming so we can
easily find people who have the technical skills.

The problem is that developing projects takes a long time. It
took us nine months to conceptualize Ada Apa, where we basically
didn't do anything, just sit, read, watched film, discussed.

It used to be difficult to find people who were willing to do
that.

Why did it take so long?

It has to, if we want to be happy with the result. That's our
principles. We have to really, really absorb ourselves in the
subject, then we can work it out.

Making a film needs huge dedication. If we don't care and
aren't really in love with the characters, the story and the
problems, we could give up in the middle of the process.

Abroad, it takes a minimum of two years to make a film. The
good thing is, there is already a secure financing system, so
they get a steady paycheck. Here, it's still difficult.