Top director enriches Indonesians with Dutch films

By Gotot Prakosa

JAKARTA (JP): Hes, a 40-year-old social worker at a state office, is a man who is indifferent to his surroundings. A witness of annoying bureaucratic attitude in the workplace, he has turned into a very cynical man.

One day Hes learns about a mentally disabled 14-year-old girl who lost her parents in an accident. Hes tries to help by adopting the girl, but has to face the bitter reality of bureaucracy.

This is the storyline of Orlow Seunke's De Smaak van Water (A Taste of Water, 1982) which won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. The film opened a three-day Orlow Seunke Film Weekend at Erasmus Huis, South Jakarta, last weekend. His other films screened during the event were Pervila, Oh Boy and Gordel van Smaragd (Gem of the Equator) as well as some animated and short films.

Seunke belongs to the Dutch film world, which has an intriguing film tradition. Documentary film development there has been quite significant, starting in the early years after World War II, when Dutch-ism films were born and became quite popular.

Following the establishment of the Academy of Film in 1958 and the emergence of television, there were significant changes in Dutch films. More actual and realistic pictures about human life became the subject in creation. Nouvelle vague from France and neorealism from Italy influenced ambitious young people with their rebellious spirit in filmmaking, some of whom managed to make a name for themselves. In 1966, Pim de la Parra and Wim Vestappen made De minder gelukkige terugkeer van Joszef Katus naar het land van Rembrandt (The Return of Unhappy Joszef Katus to the Homeland of Rembrandt). The film, which represents the condition of the Netherlands in the 1960s, does a good job of combining documentary technique with fiction.

In the 1970s, director Paul Verhoeven cooperated with producer Rob Houwer and scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman to make a film based on the popular book Wat zien ik (What I See) about various anecdotes on prostitutes. The film was consider "cool" and made a lot of money. The cooperation between Verhoeven and Houwer also resulted in other interesting films like Turks Fruit (1972), Keetje Tippel (1975), Soldaat van Oranye (Soldier of Orange, 1977), Spetters (1980) and De Vierde Man (The Fourth Man, 1983).

Many filmmakers at that time made films based on books, which gave the impression that they wanted to benefit from the popularity of the books. They included Ciske de Rat (1984) by Guido Pieters, Brandende liefde (Burning Love, 1983) by Ate de Jong and Max Havelaar (1976) by veteran Fons Rademakers.

The end of the 1970s saw the emergence of female directors. Nouchka van Brakal made her first film, Het debuut (1977), followed by Een vrouw als Eva (A Woman like Eva, 1979) and Van de koele meren des doods (From the Cool Lakes of Death, 1982). In 1982, female director Annette Apon made Golden, a 16 mm format film, followed by Giovanni (1983). Lili Rademakers created Menuet in 1982 and in the same year Mady Smaks completed Ademloos (Breathless) and Markeen Goris made De stilte rond Christine M. (The Silence around Christine M.).

At the end of the 20th century, there are young Dutch directors who make wonderful films: Robert-Jan Wstdijk with Little Sister and Eddy Terstal with Bastards & Bridesmaids, which won several awards and received a warm response from young audiences. The low-budget films star unknown actors with spontaneous dialogs. Terstal also made Babilon and Westdijk made Siberia.

In the 1980s, Dutch films began to win over Dutch audiences, generating more than 10 percent of the revenue of movie theaters in the country.

According to the Holland Film 1998 annual catalog, movie theaters sold more than 17.1 million tickets for local films in 1995, in 1996 there was a 2.4 percent drop, but in 1977 the figure increased to 20 million.

The Dutch government is optimistic about the improved development of the local film industry and the Dutch minister of economic and finance has underlined the need for more investment in films. They also expect the products to be in line with market demand, especially concerning young people, and including foreign viewers, without neglecting artistic values.

The Ministry of Culture and the Association of Movie Theaters work together to finance Dutch films. In fact, most of the films produced in the Netherlands are financed by this subsidy. The funds enable producers and filmmakers to develop their creativity without worrying too much about the commercial aspects. What is more, the Ministry of Culture regularly subsidizes the making of fiction films for beginners. As young filmmakers get the chance to create their works, new Dutch films have many facets.

Dutch Film Fund, a semigovernment institution, has allocated 17,336,000 guilders (about US$10 million) for the 1997/2000 period.

The year 1998 saw the release of 27 long films, 20 short films, nine long documentary films, 18 short documentary films and 12 animated films. Seventeen other fiction films, one short film and six documentary films are still in process.

There are many private and government institutions in the Netherlands which provide funds for filmmaking. One of them is Rotterdam's Hubert Balls, which helps not only Dutch filmmakers, but also those from other countries. Last year, three Indonesian films were made with the help of Hubert Balls: Daun diatas Bantal (A Leaf on A Pillow) by Garin Nugroho, Telegram by Slamet Rahardjo and Kuldesak by four young directors Nan T. Achnas, Mira Lesmana, Riri Riza and Rizal Mantovani.

It is widely known that many Dutch filmmakers, like Verhoven and Jan de Bond, try their luck in Hollywood or other places after being successful in their own country. But there are also others who prefer to maintain their identity in the Netherlands while exploring other possibilities to idealistically develop the film world. One of them is Orlow Seunke.

Seunke is not a stranger to students of the School of Film and Television, the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) and local filmmakers as he has contributed to the education of film here. He held workshops for the students here in 1988, 1989 and 1991. In 1991, Seunke sent eight Indonesian students and technicians to make a comparison study and learn about film equipment maintenance in the Netherlands.

And now, after showing his films at Erasmus Huis, he is holding a two-week workshop at the Jakarta Arts Institute from March 29 to April 8. It is expected that workshop participants will benefit much from the event and produce good films or video works, as in the days before aid from the Netherlands was halted. The New Order government rejected the aid in 1992 as it was perceived that The Hague was interfering in Indonesia's internal affairs.

The writer is a cinematologist who teaches at the School of Film and Television, Jakarta Arts Institute.