United vision for region's cinema

United vision for region's cinema

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The 46th Asia Pacific Film Festival recently passed through
Jakarta without any significant decisions being made about the
future of the region's film industry.

The main concern in the region is how to promote local films
in neighboring countries in order to encourage film production
and dam the flood of imported Hollywood movies.

During a seminar on Thursday titled Expanding the Horizon,
some festival participants suggested a collaboration of
filmmakers. However, this suggestion was not followed by a
concrete agreement.

Many factors have contributed to the stagnation of
Asia-Pacific film distribution. A delegation from Hanoi, for
example, identified such obstacles as the mechanisms for
obtaining government subsidies, the obligation to use English
subtitles and the lack of distributors for the Asia Pacific
market.

As for Indonesia, social and political turmoil and the
economic crisis have combined to push film production and
overseas film distribution far down the list of priorities.

At the same time, Indonesia's young directors are still
struggling to find their voices.

According to a 1999 UNESCO survey, Indonesia produced 14
movies in the 10-year period from 1988 to 1998, while importing
150 movies.

The situation was the same in Malaysia, which produced 12
films and imported 220 during this period, and Vietnam which
produced 16 films and imported 179.

"UNESCO makes a list but it fails to provide the cause.
Actually, the list is an indication that we are being colonized
(by a wave of Hollywood movies)," said veteran Indonesian
director Slamet Rahardjo Djarot.

Slamet criticized festival participants for failing to come up
with concrete plans for joint efforts to produce films.

"I realize that for years we have only talked about how we
want to do this and that, but in fact we do nothing. We have
forgotten the core vision of the Asia Pacific film society," he
said.

For his part, he said he would approach filmmakers and
producers from Malaysia and Brunei to offer joint productions.
His ambition is to establish a new cultural network within the
film community that he calls "Cinema Asia Pacific".

"We (Indonesian and Malaysia) use the same Malay language but
we have not been successful in creating markets in Indonesia and
Malaysia. We can't blame the society because it's our fault.

"I think I should begin my work with the film societies in
Malaysia and Brunei, because we share the same language family.
If we don't serve as an example, other people will be less
motivated. But we have not yet conducted any market research or
done any of the groundwork to support our initiative," said
Slamet, who is the chairman of the National Film Empowerment
Board.

The major hindrance to cooperation is arrogance, he said.

"We have the markets, but the filmmakers are stupid. They only
think about who is the best. We have to end this attitude.
Another problem is that if we cooperate with Malaysia, many will
question us because they believe that Malaysia will benefit more
than us."

Director Mira Lesmana said directors from the younger
generation were striving to free themselves from the Hollywood-
style of filmmaking and find their own identities.

"The young directors are in the process of becoming great
storytellers amid the bombardment of Hollywood movies. We are in
the process of making films that speak to the hearts of the
audience and touch them," she said.

She added that it was difficult to find a language to
communicate with the audience.

"As filmmakers we are always desperate to communicate with our
audiences. We use the MTV style in our first films because MTV is
so close to our generation. But art movies do not have much of an
audience here. But we're lucky because we have festivals, and we
can explore any kind of story. Then we finally realize that our
audiences crave something different."

She said she preferred the personal approach in promoting her
movies.

"I prefer to make independent contact with Singaporean or
Malaysian filmmakers, participate in film festivals in other
countries and seek possible joint productions."

Mira, whose first wide screen movie, Kuldesak, sat on the
shelves for two years before being screened at local theaters in
1998, said young directors must be sensitive to people's needs.

"We must not pretend to know what people expect from a movie.
We have to keep an open mind and continue inventing. The
audiences are different. We can only learn the audiences' desires
through discussion because we still don't do this through
research."