Indonesia's Cinematic
Art Stumble and Surge
World Paper, New York, USA
June, 2001
By. Marissa Haque Fawzi
An Indonesia Actress, is in Residence at Ohio University
Indonesia
as a country among many countries in the world, cannot escape
of the effect of globalization. More specially, the Indonesia
film industry is influenced and shaped by the cultures and
trends of many other nations. This assimilation necessary
and positive for progress and increased quality as long as
an individual maintains his/ her own touch, so to speak. This
process is guaranteed by the fact that our world grows smaller
everyday and the boundaries that once existed are no more.
The father of Indonesia film, Mr. Haji Usmar Ismail, was
the first Indonesia artist to graduate from the School of
Film at the University of California Los Angles as early
as the 1940s. Generations to follow in the 1970’s
were strongly predisposed to Russian production style and
technique with Indonesian graduate from Moscow University
such as Syumandjaja and Amy Priono.
Many artists to follow, Producers and Directors are products
of Indonesia education and training. Their work, also distinguished,
is colored by local wit and wisdom. A result of their efforts
has been “Edutainment” or educational entertainment
for the Indonesian citizen.
The only trouble with this is seen in the extremely small
ratio of these artists in relation to the population of
Indonesia, which far exceeds 200 million. If the love of
money is the root of all evil it has also been the demise
of the film industry in Indonesia. Many Directors viewed
the production of movies as a monetary printing press.
The typical Indonesian film left nothing for the viewing
public; there was no moral message and no real meaning.
By the end of 1980s the film industry has stagnated and
come to screeching halt. The Indonesia government further
stifled the industry’s creativity and quality, and
the differences from one film to the next became almost
impossible to discern. It was a frustrating time for the
movie-going public and even exasperating for those production
teams that sought to create.
In 1990s gave us Garin Nugroho. As a young man, he graduated
from University of Indonesia with a degree in Law and attended
Indonesia’s
Institut Kesenian Jakarta (Indonesian
Art Institute). Garin Nugroho was determined to create new
standard, and in the mid-1990s he began work. Nugroho presented
an Eastern European style of production. Many Indonesian
viewers did not understand this style of production and
found the storylines difficult to follow, but his works
have been honored (and have placed) at almost every international
film festivals in which those have appeared.
Toward the end of 1999, a group of young Indonesian film
graduates that, to date, do not wish to be identified with
other movie production teams, came together to produce.
They represent the new techno generation, seeking something
new and different from all who came before them, and it
is known to Indonesians today as the movie
Kuldesak.
This independent production team used a grassroots style
marketing strategy throughout production. The film smacks
of Quentin Tarantino. The theme song from thia movie was
also honored by MTV at the MTV awards 2000 in New York.
The year 2000 was phenomenon for Rivai Riza (Film Director),
Mira Lesmana and Triawan Munaf (Co Producers) with their
award-winning production
Petualangan Sherina or the
Adventures of Sherina. The British honored this production
with the presentation of the British Chavening Award Scholarship
to Riza. This is only logical because Riza finished his
Master of Arts in screenwriting at a British Institution
in 1999. Riza ia rich with British style.
What do we see in the future of the Indonesian film industry?
What style do we hope will prevail? There are so many possibilities,
but that which cannot be denied and is clear to even those
who would close their eyes is that American films are shown
on every channel of Indonesian television and fill Indonesian
theatres. In this lies an undeniable answer.
We are also aware that American film is a collection of
assimilations from across the world. Thus we come full circle
of globalization and interdependent world in which we live.
We will, each and every one of us, learn from all of those
around us without exception, if we hope to progress. This
is a continual process that will go on for as long as we
breathe.
Marissa Haque Fawzi: "Indonesia's Cinematic Art Stumble and Surge"
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