'Sexy beast' to visit major cities

Claire Harvey, Contributor, Jakarta

When asked about Britain, most Indonesians are expert commentators on soccer and the royal family -- "err, Lady Di? Manchester United?" -- but that's about it.

The British Council in Jakarta has spent the last few months researching attitudes toward the UK, and found that while most Indonesians think positively about Britain, their understanding of UK culture is limited.

This year's British film festival seeks to change all of that. From April 13, there will be no excuse for any Jakartan who doesn't know that romance is hard to find in London, or that in Northern England, something fantastic is described as "purely belter".

Launched in 1998, the British Film Festival seeks to show Indonesians the breadth and diversity of movie-making in the United Kingdom.

It's also a window into British society -- and this year's crop of films gives a perspective which you won't find in many tourist brochures.

Bleak films by renowned directors Ken Loach and Michael Winterbottom are the star attractions of the 2002 festival, along with the smash-hit gangster flick Sexy Beast.

In all, there are ten features and several short films to be screened in Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya over three weeks.

"These films represent the best -- and sometimes the worst -- of British culture," says the festival's director, Jim Hollington.

"The films are all outstanding in their own different ways, and they really give a much broader picture of British society," says Hollington, manager of arts and public relations at the British Council in Jakarta.

"When we started the film festival in 1998 everyone said you're never going to get an audience for 100 art films in Jakarta -- but they were wrong. There is a massive interest in film here -- especially non-Hollywood film -- but those aren't the kind of movies you get to see at Studio 21," he said.

Would-be filmmakers will also be able to get some tips from some experts during the festival.

Indonesian filmmaker Riri Reza, who directed the hit Petualangan Sherina, has just returned from postgraduate study at the University of London and will host a five-day workshop on adapted screenplays, with one of his teachers, award-winning British director Sue Clayton.

"People sometimes think that you have to base your screenplay on a classic novel or write a completely original script," Clayton said from her home in England.

"But you can use anything -- snippets of stories from books, newspaper clippings, songs, legends. I really want to shake up people's ideas of what it means to adapt a screenplay. We live in such a multi-media world, it's no wonder we're influenced by everything around us."

One of the sweetest films in the 2002 festival is Strictly Sinatra, written and directed by Peter Capaldi and starring Kelly McDonald, of Trainspotting and Gosford Park.

In the gray Scottish city of Glasgow, Tony Cocozza is a small- time cabaret singer obsessed with Frank Sinatra. Cocozza, played by Ian Hart, gets him accidentally mixed up with the kind of gangsters who were pals with Ol' Blue Eyes. Critics described Hart, who previously played John Lennon in the Beatles flick Backbeat, as "Britain's best young character actor" for his performance in this film.

The hilarious Purely Belter is the story of two lower-class soccer fans who will do anything -- literally -- to get Newcastle United tickets. Subtitles might be needed here -- the characters speak in strong northern accents that even native English speakers have trouble understanding.

Ken Loach, who has devoted his career to the struggles of Britain's working class, turns his attention to the United States with Bread and Roses. This 2001 film, which focuses on the problems of South American janitors working illegally in a Los Angeles office block, includes flashes of romantic tenderness between an idealistic union organizer and the young immigrant worker he wants to help.

The British Council, a government body which promotes cultural and education relations between Britain and the world, administers a rich treasure trove of postgraduate scholarships. Seventy of the Chevening Awards, under which Riri Reza traveled to study in England, are awarded to young Indonesians each year.

Local director Nan T. Achnas, who made last year's hit film Pasir Berbisik (Whispering Sands), also won the award in 1996.

Would-be filmmakers always flock to film festivals to discuss the angst of being a struggling artist and mock the "sellouts" who have achieved commercial success, but Hollington says the British Film Festival attracts a diverse audience.

"Seventy percent of our audience are 20 to 30 year-old and it's split pretty evenly between students and young professionals," he said.

"Going to film festivals has become a trendy thing to do now, it's not just something for film students."

In 2001 the British Film Festival attracted 19,000 Jakartans and the Jakarta Film Festival sold more than 43,000 tickets.

The independent film scene has boomed in recent years. The Jakarta International Film Festival was launched in 1999 by producer Shanty Harmayn and distributor Natacha Devilliers, and each year features edgy local productions, as well as films from Australia and other countries in the region.

It might sound strange, but Hollington's greatest dream is that the festival will eventually end.

"The best thing for us is if the British Film Festival is no longer needed because 21 (cineplex) are taking more British films for themselves," he said.

"Five years ago a film like Billy Elliott would never have been shown at 21, but that's what happened last year, and it's fantastic, even though we don't get to show it in our festival," he said.

"That's the whole point; to make British films more mainstream."