Short films strengthen RI-German cultural ties

Short films strengthen RI-German cultural ties

By Gotot Prakosa

JAKARTA (JP): In a celebration of cultural relations between
Germany and Indonesia, the Goethe Institute, in cooperation with
various local educational organizations in major cities, is
holding a German-Indonesian Short Films Festival from Feb. 15
through to March 3.

The festival features 35 short films from various genres under
four categories: Tricky Germany (12 films), Politics? Politics!
(8 films), Love and Other Cruelties (8 films) and Irony of Fate
(7 films).

The films, made between 1992 and 1998, vary from animation,
documentaries, short features and experimentals. The festival
also screens Indonesian short films that have received
commendations at local and international forums, such as Jakarta
468, Halte (Bus Stop) and Revolusi Harapan (Revolution of Hope).

The festival began in Yogyakarta on Feb. 15 at Atmajaya
University campus and continues at the Indonesian Art Institute's
Teater Arena on Feb. 18 and Feb. 19. In Bandung, it will take
place at Bandung Institute of Technology's (ITB) Galeri
Soemardja.

Then it will move to Jakarta, with showings at the University
of Indonesia, Depok, on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, at the Jakarta Arts
Institute's (IKJ) Studio Mini on Feb. 28 and Feb. 29 and at the
Goethe Institute Building from Feb. 28 to March 3.

A workshop on the production of short films for IKJ students
will be held from March 1 to March 5, featuring filmmaker Veit
Helmer. Helmer will also present some of his works.

The first record of German and Indonesian relations is in
1509. In 1597, Georg Keller from Frankfurt drew a map of Banten.
In the 17th century, thousands of Germans went to Indonesia as
researchers, doctors, missionary, scholars, merchants, writers
and artists.

In the arts, the two countries have always maintained very
good relations. Many German artists have written about Indonesia.
Frederich Shiller (1759-1805), Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811),
Adalbett von Chamisso (1781-1838) and Theodor Fontane (1819-1861)
are some of Germany's big names in literature who have written
about Indonesia.

Prussian King Frederich Wilhelm IV (1797-1861) also wrote a
novel set in Borneo. Johan Wolfgang von Goethe was an honorary
member of Paguyuban Batavia, a science and arts grouping in old
Jakarta.

Many German painters and sculptors have taken Indonesia as
their theme. A Javanese painter, Raden Saleh Bustaman (1811-
1880), lived in Germany for several years. Walter Spies (1895-
1942) is probably the best known German artist in Indonesia,
especially Bali.

The first film about Indonesia is thought to have been made by
a German officer who worked with the Dutch army in Indonesia. He
recorded the Dutch army's attack on Puri Badung in Bali in 1904,
which is known as the Puputan War. The film, clocking in at six
minutes, is now stored at Switzerland's Basel Museum.

Walter Spies, who lived and conducted research on the Balinese
arts in 1931, collaborated with Victor Baron von Plessen, a
German film producer and director of several films, to make Die
Insel des Daemonen (The Island of Demons). It is a 70 minute film
about the Balinese community: the beautiful landscape, the
farmers and the Leak dance. The cast were all locals.

Inspired by the success of The Island of Demons, von Plessen
asked Spies to collaborate for another film. This time it was
about the daily life of the Dayak Kenyah community in Borneo (now
Kalimantan) in 1935. The Dayak had a running time of more than 70
minutes. The cast were all Dayak Kenyah and Dayak Punan
tribespeople.

The film featured the life and traditions of the Dayak people:
their romances, their daily life and how they repulsed their
enemies. It shows how the tribespeople conquered the river and
beheaded their enemies in their tradition called Ngayau.

Baron von Plessen also made short films on the culture of the
Balinese and other ethnic groups. H. Nevermann was another German
filmmaker who, in 1938, recorded on the daily life of
Indonesians.

More German filmmakers arrived and made films about Indonesia
after it became independent in 1945. This activity was given a
boost by the growing television industry in Germany. Since the
1970s, German TV stations have often presented programs on
Indonesia.

German filmmakers are still coming to Indonesia, not only to
make films but also to address seminars and show their works.
Cultural relations have flourished after the opening of Goethe
Institute offices in Jakarta and other major cities.

Big names in the German film industry like Wim Wender, Volker
Schlondorff, Margarethe von Trotta and Harmut Bitomsky are among
those who have visited Indonesia and met with local people in the
film industry.