Tight competition in 'sinetron' festival
JAKARTA (JP): A young village woman, dying from hemorrhaging during childbirth, is stared at by her dumbfounded husband, rendered inert by his own insecurities.
The scene from the television drama, Perkawinan Siti Zubaedah, (The Marriage Of Siti Zubaedah) fuses tragedy and bravura acting with the immediacy of real life, part of a well-crafted work by veteran director Teguh Karya.
The teleserial, which are known locally as sinetron, focuses on Siti Zubaedah (Ayu Azhari), who suffers because of her indifferent husband, Kodjat alias Bewok, (Alex Komang).
It is a strong contender to grab the prize for best television drama at the coming Festival Sinetron Indonesia (FSI), the Indonesian version of the Emmys, at the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center on the evening of Dec. 4.
In its fifth edition, the annual festival has become an outlet for the film and TV communities to show their talent after the film awards were discontinued in 1991 on the back of slumping box office receipts.
Perkawinan Siti Zubaedah received seven nominations, including best television drama, best director (Teguh Karya), best actress (Ayu Azhari), best supporting actor (Jedi Saputra) and best music (Djadjuk Ferianto).
Despite a critical beating on the abysmal quality of many of the local TV productions, this year's jury members in the fiction category -- George Kamarullah, Zoraya Perucha, Gatot Sudharto, Pandu Putra Danandjaya, D.J. Nawi, Titie Said and Noorca M. Massardi-- managed to fulfill the festival's ambitious goal to become a barometer for the national teleserial industry.
Squeezed from 134 titles and 800 episodes, five shows were selected in each of the three categories -- TV drama, drama serials and comedies.
In the drama category, Perkawinan Siti Zubaedah will face stiff competition from works of younger directors, including Garin Nugroho's Angin Rumput Savana (Wind of the Savanna Grass), Indra Gunawan's Bapak (Father), Yossie Enes' Menyusuri Bayangan Diri (Following One's Own Shadow) and Hanny Saputra's Sepanjang Jalan Kenangan (Down Memory Lane).
Nominees for drama serials are an exceptional crop. Jajang C. Noer's debut, Bukan Perempuan Biasa (No Ordinary Woman), goes up against Ahmad Yusuf's Abad 21 (The 21st Century), Rano Karno's Si Doel Anak Sekolahan III, Yonggi Sihombing's Karenina and Ismail Soebardjo's Tirai Kasih Yang Terkoyak (Torn Curtain of Love).
"People" fare like Didi Petet's Si Kabayan, Husein Kusuma's Fatima and Deddy Mizwar's Mat Angin lead in the comedy category.
Judging
Television observer Syamsudin N. Moenadi said judging of the best teleserials at the FSI could go one of two ways.
"It could either go by the standards outlined in the jury- member 'blueprint' -- educative and entertaining social-oriented sinetron -- or those that are considered well-produced multimedia sinetron," explained Syamsudin, a juror at the 1994 FSI.
He said that if jurors went by the book, they would bestow the award on a show which explores a current social problem, and does it analytically and objectively.
Teleserial critic Veven SP Wardhana shared Syamsudin's view. In his book, Kapitalisme Televisi dan Strategi Budaya Masa (Television Capitalism and the Mass Culture Strategy), Veven wrote that FSI's jury members have always been generous to "people pictures".
He said juries preferred down-to-earth sinetron in more serious genres to those with spectacular fantasy, glamor or cheap comedies, the ingredients for commercially successful teleserials.
"Award-winning serials in previous years were those which dealt with topical problems in the society," he noted.
List of winners from recent years bear him out. Irwinsyah's Aksara Tanpa Kata (Silent Word, 1992), Menghitung Hari (Counting the Days, 1995) and last year's winner, Vonis Kepagian (Premature Verdict), were all packed with social criticism.
The jury picks for this year's nominations continued to follow the "blueprint".
All sinetron nominated in the drama category concern intense social issues.
Angin Rumput Savannah is about a doctor who comes back to her homeland and faces the stifling conventions of traditional life.
In the drama, Garin tries to subtly convey the message of risks in childbirth.
In Menyusuri Bayangan Diri, Yossie Enes portrays the life of Robot Gedek, the notorious serial killer of young boys.
The production not only tries to depict the story objectively, but provides an incisive look into Robot's early life. It also manages to entertain from the tragic and grisly tale.
Sepanjang Jalan Kenangan (Down Memory Lane) is a chilling, ravishingly shot thriller about a psychotic who missed out on parental love. He never learned what it is to be human and to have compassion and empathy for others.
The drama, both in storyline and camera angles, is something out of the ordinary for Indonesian audiences.
Bapak, (Father), deals with the struggle of a convict father to win back his daughter's love and trust.
Multimedia
Syamsudin added jurors could also go by the "multimedia-new- generation" concept.
The emergence of a new breed of intellectual directors has resulted in production of challenging and stimulating films. Hanny Saputra, who made his debut with Sepanjang, and Garin are representative.
"I personally would go for Hanny Saputra," Syamsudin said. "He defines the social problem with excellent technological work. He plays with colors like no other director in the list.
"Menyusuri Bayangan Diri might win because it deals with a social problem that happened recently. The wounds of the masses over this one are still fresh."
Apart from Hanny, Garin is the only director to have given painstaking detail to technique, color and cinematography.
"Imagine using Electronic News Gathering (ENG) and coming up with a production that looks like pure celluloid (used for movies)," Syamsudin said.
He added Garin was known to go all out in his productions.
"He literally measures the time when the first rays of the sun will hit the ground. His management sense and technology know-how is remarkable.
"While others depend on intuition, his strength lies in his intellectual prowess. It is like Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine. Good content and excellent picturization. To me, that is quality defined by FSI standards."
Garin once said that he never set out to win plaudits.
"Everytime I make a film, I will put all my energy and all-out efforts to create a good result. In making this television production (Angin Rumput Savanna), I spent months doing research before coming up with a total concept."
Teguh Karya also downplayed the pursuit of honors.
"In my television works, I use my true emotions and my skills.. to come up with something creative.. not something too somber which will force people to switch channels, or something too entertaining in which the content is lost."
Ishadi S.K, operation director of TPI, said the criteria for the best teleserial was set by the jury and panel members of the festival.
"There are no right or wrong sinetron and, anyway, who are we to judge. It's either the audience or the festival juries."
Entertainment mogul Raam Punjabi, whose productions include Bukan Perempuan Biasa and Abad 21, was concerned that Jajang -- widow of the late filmmaker Arifin C. Noer -- was passed over for a best director nomination for Bukan Perempuan Biasa.
"I feel that Jajang not being nominated is a bit weird. It's like the dish being nominated for the best dish category, but the cook was left out."
But Raam, with a roster of successful teleserials to his name, has little else to complain about. He feels that he knows what the masses want and is delivering "just that and more".
"For me, the festival has not yet functioned as the barometer of the sinetron industry. But it is a motivating force that pushes artists to create better quality teleserials." (raw/02)