Young documentarians seek justice

Young documentarians seek justice

Kenny Santana, Contributor, Jakarta, qnoy2k@yahoo.com

Documentary films are not particularly popular in the country.
Only one documentary film has been shown on commercial movie
theaters -- Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 -- and it did poorly
at the local box office, despite the film's international
success.

However, popularity and box office ratings are not what the
documentary filmmakers seek: they are looking for justice.

At a recent pitching forum to find the best five documentary
films with the theme "Looking for Indonesia" coordinated by
Indocs, Media Indonesia and Metro TV, held at the Goethe
Institute in Menteng, Central Jakarta, eight of the 10
semifinalists told the tale of the country's "little people"
facing daily injustices.

The first documentary proposal, 31:1, quoted a verse from the
1945 Constitution on equal education. The proposed documentary
follows Mariatun, a 28-year-old blind man, fighting for his right
to a formal education on an equal footing with other students. In
their pitch, the two filmmakers said they hoped to open the eyes
of the government and the public toward supporting and respecting
the rights of the disabled.

Another case of injustice was proposed in the pitching for
Crew, which takes a look at the life of stage builders of large
musical events and the great risks and low fees they face in
their profession.

One of the filmmakers of the proposed Crew, Dipo Alam, 20,
developed the idea from his own experience as a stage builder. He
has observed workers take home as little as Rp. 20,000 while they
risked their lives every day, working high above the ground
without safety harnesses, nor accident insurance. "You fall, your
risk" was the attitude of both employers and employees.

The point of the documentary is that the workers were
uninformed about their rights and yet took the risk because the
more important matter was putting food on the table -- and that
the employers took advantage of this basic need.

More stories of injustices were pitched as the forum
continued.

For example, take the story about a diver in Aceh who sells
national treasures because of the government's lack of
appreciation; or another about young horsemen in Sumbawa who
jeopardize their futures for winning small change; and other
stories of a Javanese badminton player being fired because of his
ethnicity or of an assistant bus driver risking his life every
day. The same theme runs through all.

These proposed films all take actual events as their subjects,
and it seems most participating filmmakers have interpreted
"Looking for Indonesia" into a single word: injustice. It is
clear that these young filmmakers, who represent a segment of the
nation's citizenry, think that justice is not being served in
Indonesia -- yet.

Yuli Andari, one of the winning documentarians who pitched the
story on Sumbawa horsemen, said, "When we first came up with the
idea of making this film, we were just concerned about the
situation on Sumbawa horse-racing. A lot of money is involved in
this tourism-driven event, but the racers who face the danger get
basically nothing."

She continued, "Behind the money in racing is the most
important thing -- the racers' future. And nobody seems to care
about it."

Furthermore, she explained that under-12 racers made Rp. 5,000
to Rp 10,000 per race, they were not equipped with saddles,
helmets or insurance, and that the situation was allowed to go on
unnoticed.

"As a filmmaker, I believe film is a powerful medium to make a
statement. It's more effective than hearing a speech from a
government official. And documentary filmmakers have an intention
to change our nation for the better through these stories on
injustices," she said.

Dian Herdiany, director of Indocs, a local documentary film
development organization, said, "Of the 456 proposals we
received, over 85 percent speak about the relationship between
the nation and its citizens, and they are always about injustice.
This is why we set up this (pitching forum) to be broadcast on TV
-- to reach wider audiences, and thus a bigger response to the
nation's condition."

"Film is a creative tool that proves that a simple idea can
make a big change," Andari said.

And it is important that these films are made toward this end,
because beyond the pitching forum, the workshops and the filming,
these documentaries will show this country a thing or two about
itself -- its unjust face.

The five winning documentaries, Sejarah Negeri Yang
Kalam/Murky national history, Ksatria Kerajaan/Knights of the
kingdom, Joki Kecil/Little traffic jockey, Kernet Menantang
Bahaya/The assistant bus driver courts danger, Kami Juga Anak
Indonesia/We're Indonesia's children too, and 11 behind-the-
scenes episodes will air weekly on Metro TV in November.