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.