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.