'Without new discovery our movies will die'

'Without new discovery our movies will die'

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival took place in
late April/early May. The work of some Indonesian filmmakers was
screened there, including that of Garin Nugroho. Shirley Surya
and Oddie Octaviadi interviewed him on the sidelines of the
festival.

Question: What has been the reaction so far from the audience and
critics about your movie?
Garin: Rindu Kami Padamu (Of Love And Eggs) is probably the most
communicative film I've made. The questions that have arisen so
far revolve around the techniques or methodology used in making
this movie. The audience asked about the concept of using a
soundstage and the storyline itself, which is saturated with the
religion of Islam.

In Rotterdam, the aspect of Islam as a part of this movie's
storyline was more prominent as a result of what happened to the
movie maker, Theo Van Gogh (a TV movie director who was murdered
because his movie showed an actress in see-through garments with
Koranic script written on her body).

I was invited to give a speech at a seminar in Rotterdam on
censorship. I said it's problematic because there's nothing in
this world that justifies murder -- neither the war in Iraq nor
the 9/11 terrorist attack.

The reasoning behind these two acts of violence cannot be
fathomed by most people: Logic fails. And when logic fails,
minority groups (different religious entities, subcultures, etc.)
will use unorthodox means of communicating their view. And this
can create conflict, especially when there's a lack of
communication between existing groups.

Why Theo Van Gogh used Islamic symbolism in his movie is a
subject for discussion -- not a reason for violence. Most
conflicts that are going on in the world today started for no
particular reason. When there's no real cause or reason then
people do things without real logic or reasoning. They follow
what they convinced themselves was the truth.

What kind of message do you want to convey with this movie?

One characteristic of an Islamic movie made in the past five
years is the theme of gender. Second, the issue of a gap between
generations of Muslims living in Europe. They depict a
contrasting portrayal of first- and second-generation Muslims.
The first generation is usually shown to be orthodox and to hold
fast to old values. Third, there are also some movies that
discuss the theme of violence. Fourth, the prevailing theme of
poverty in a Muslim society. Fifth, these Islamic movies are very
serious, with little room for jokes.

However, with Rindu Kami Padamu (Of Love and Eggs), I'm trying
to portray a different side or face of a Muslim society. I
purposely made the movie's storyline simple, filled it with jokes
and I even included a sexy movie actress.

The movie faced no obstacles, even in Indonesia. Whereas other
Islamic movies tend to be dogmatic and even have violent
overtones, I came up with a new perspective for this genre.

What is problematic is that religiosity in most Islamic
countries is dogmatic, while it should deal with everyday life.
In that case, religion is either controlled by guns or by
rituals. Everyday life is left unguided.

Most Indonesian movies that deal with religious themes are
usually very preachy. They often show elder religious elders who
are well respected and very orthodox. In this movie, the
religious leader is shown to be a relaxed person who likes to
joke around -- closer to what is the reality of everyday life in
Indonesia.

What kind of movies would you like to make?

Movies that deal with the theme of multicultural society. The
movie I made prior to this one, Aku Ingin Menciummu Sekali Saja,
deals with Christianity in Papua without hiding anything. And I
think it's about time a movie covered this. Even though I'm not a
Christian, I still think it's an important subject to explore.

When in Papua, you experience the culture of Christianity. The
same thing happens when you're in Bali -- you experience the
culture of Hinduism. Indonesians need to experience these
variations of culture with their eyes, ears and heart. Otherwise,
the difference between ethnic customs and cultures will become
fearsome.

With its many islands, ethnicities, and religions. Indonesia
is like a microcosm of the world as a whole. Therefore, my films
use traditional languages so that the audience can experience the
many different languages of Indonesia. The pluralism of language
affect many facets of movie-making -- from acting to camera
angle.

Is it true that your films don't get much exposure in
mainstream cinema because of the genre you choose?

Two of the seven movies I have made so far have became box
office hits. They are Cinta Dalam Sepotong Roti" and Daun Di Atas
Bantal. Compared with other producers, even in the case of the
most commercial such as Mira (Lesmana), only 50 percent actually
created box office hits. But most people tend to label me on the
basis of my more artistic films such as Surat untuk Bidadari,
Bulan Tertusuk Ilalang and Puisi Tak Terkuburkan, which played to
only small audiences. I think that's fine because there should be
both mainstream and also minority movies.

In Indonesia people tend to think that if your audience is
small then your movie is a considered a failure: That's the
general perception. This kind of misconception is what weakens
the Indonesian cinema industry and culture. Everybody wants to
create a mainstream movie.

Regarding the new crops of Indonesian movies such as Arisan
and Banyu Biru: Are they indicators of what we can expect from
the Indonesian cinema?

Well, one of the differences between the new Indonesian movie
directors and the older generation is that they are more
influenced by the Western movie industry. Meanwhile, the older
generation of Indonesian movie directors were schooled by the
Russian and European movie makers. So, they are more into the
style of neorealism from Italy and Germany.

Today's filmmakers are mostly American movie-minded -- the so-
called "Tarantinoian crop". There are also a generation of movie
maker that stemmed from the entertainment industry such as TV.
There are also those who graduated from local film schools,
mostly in cities such as Yogyakarta, Makasar and others.

Today's movies are more about individuals while movies in the
past decades dealt more with collectivism.

Today's directors live in a world where movies from all over
the world are easily accessible in various formats. Today, cinema
is not the golden boy of entertainment anymore. There's a lot of
competition from other formats of entertainment.

In the era of digital entertainment, where the distribution of
movies is very fast, it has become too easy to be heavily
inspired or even copy from other people's works. It has come to
the point where we even question who copies whom.

From 200 short films made in Indonesia these past years, only
five films made it to the International film venue. So, quantity
has risen while quality has fallen.

Take the film Mengejar Matahari by Rudi Sudjarwo -- the movie
is very good artistically and technically. However, the storyline
has been told before in many other Asian movies. So, the issue is
not about how to make a movie but, what issue do we want to
discuss in it?

Are festivals a good measure of good movies?
Not always. But, for me personally, film festivals are like
libraries where, if you participate, you can learn a lot.

Are there any differences for the cinema industry now that we
have entered the post-Soeharto "reform" era?

In the reform era, the state of the cinema industry is
actually a lot like Indonesian politics -- the sense of freedom
is high while the essence of the movie itself is heading toward
more generalization/mainstream. Many issues that are really
interesting should be brought up in movies but are neglected.

Let me ask, how come there are no movies that deal with the
many issues of Islam in Indonesia? Or about the issues that exist
in areas outside of Java? How about a movie that talks about the
issue of decentralization of government? Only someone like myself
will actually make a movie outside of Jakarta. There are almost
no political movies except for a handful of documentaries.

Is that because the movie makers want to cater to the
mainstream audience?

I think that's a wrong assumption. Our audiences want to see
varieties in storyline too. There's already a misconception that
if a movie is not about Jakarta then it won't sell. In Thailand,
people actually flocks to theaters to see a movie that depicts
rural areas. We're too afraid to embrace pluralism, not just in
movies but, in many other aspects of our lives.

Indonesian movies want to cater to pop culture but are not
quite certain how to do it. I think pop culture is the most
plural genre. It has more variations compared with other genres.
Sadly, in Indonesia, our pop culture is uniform and lacks
improvisation. There should be constant discovery and recovery.

Unknowingly, we are conditioned to be consumptive and not
productive. Sadly, this is happening in our movie industry. If
this is not remedied then our movie industry will die.