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Jakarta film committee: We need your help!
The Jakarta International Film FestivalThe Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest) 2010, the biggest international film event in the country planned to start on Nov
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The Jakarta International Film Festival
The Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest) 2010, the biggest international film event in the country planned to start on Nov. 27 to Dec 3, is in danger of collapsing due to a lack of funding.
It would be the latest arts event to be canceled despite having developed over the years to become one of the city’s arts icons, apart from the jazz festivals and international and national dance events.
“We are doing public fundraising to be able to hold the 12th JIFFest this year, but if we cannot raise Rp 1 billion by Nov. 1, we will have to cancel this event,” the founder of the annual festival, Shanty Harmayn, told a press conference on Thursday.
The JIFFest 2010 budget of Rp 2 billion (US$224,000) pays to screen 150 movies from 25 countries.
In the past, the budget contributions were 60 percent from foreign funding, 20 percent from private sponsorship, 10 percent ticket sales and 10 percent from government.
The main source of JIFFest funding used to be from foreign donors, but after 10 years, that support has waned. “This year we haven’t received any funding from the government, therefore we need support from the public to be able to continue this event,” Shanty said.
She said the film festival really needed about Rp 5 billion. “The ideal budget would be 30 percent from central government, 30 percent from the city administration and the rest from other sources.”
The co-director of the festival, Lalu Roisamri, said that the Rp 1 billion already secured had come from private sponsorship and foreign funding. The JIFFest body will announce soon if the event will continue ahead in the light of funding raised.
Since its inception in 1999, JIFFest played a significant role in bringing back film-going audiences to the ci-nema after a long hiatus in Indonesian cinema in the 1990s.
Up to 2009, JIFFest has been attended by more than 350,000 viewers and has screened almost 1,500 films from around 40 countries.
Jakarta Culture and Tourism Agency head Arie Budiman admitted that there was a limited budget available. “We have to save the festival for later,” he told The Jakarta Post.
He said the agency’s priorities were the revitalization of Jakarta’s Old Town, the Betawi cultural development program and the promoting of Jakarta in other countries in Asian. (not)
