‘Boy’ lends schools a helping hand

The director and producer of one of the most anticipated Indonesian movies supports education for young Indonesians through a charity event.

Named after the movie Catatan Harian Si Boy (Boy’s Daily Diary), production houses 700 pictures and Tuta Media organized a fundraising auction on July 15 in collaboration with the Putera Sampoerna Foundation.
Actor Ario Bayu enlightens audience with items to be auctioned to raise fund for charity. The items included original properties used in the filming of Catatan Harian Si Boy (Boy’s Daily Diary) the movie. JP/Wibisono Notodirdjo

“This auction is held for charity, and we will allocate all the funds for education,” said Putrama Tuta, the producer and director of Catatan Harian Si Boy – a remake of the 1990s box office hit, Catatan Si Boy.

The auction was held at The Atrium in the Sampoerna Strategic Square in Central Jakarta, and five items were sold.

The items included a jacket worn by Abimana Arya’s character Andi, Giorgio Armani sunglasses worn by the main character, Satrio, played by Ario Bayu, and a Catatan Si Boy Storygraph. All the items were original properties used during filming.

Also on sale was a bottle of 2007 Opus One wine, while the most special and the largest piece was a Catatan Harian Si Boy memorabilia collection, consisting of an original manuscript along with seven autographed photographs of the cast.

Putrama Tuta’s debut movie, Catatan Harian Si Boy has been the talk of the week. It appeals to mostly younger audiences and has received positive critical reception, selling 700,000 tickets in its first week in theaters.

“I was surprised to get the great critical reception. All I wanted to do was make a movie that was simple, fun and entertaining and, Alhamdulillah [thank God], we’ve succeeded in doing that.”

Boy’s diary from the movie has sentimental value for fans of the original Catatan Si Boy, which Putrama’s movie is based on. It depicts a perfect figure in Boy, a man who leads a perfect and positive life. That’s why the diary is the main character in this movie.

Putrama explained that the education fundraiser was because the diary itself was a book and closely represented education. He and some of the film crew wanted to make something valuable, something more than just another movie.

“This is from Catatan Harian Si Boy for Indonesian people, for young Indonesians who have dreams,” he said.

With bids starting at around Rp 1 million (US$117) for most of the items, such prices may seem unreasonable. But all the money will go to the Putera Sampoerna Foundation’s Save a Teen program, which has provided thousands of scholarships for teenagers in Indonesia this year.

“We want to help talented teenagers get quality educations,” Putera Sampoerna Foundation director Ari Widodo said, adding that 1.5 million teenagers dropped out of school because they couldn’t afford the tuition. This event was to save a generation who could become future leaders.

Guests included representatives from the Putera Sampoerna Foundation, cast members such as Ario Bayu, Carissa Putri and Albert Halim as well as their close associates. After a series of opening acts, including a surprise musical performance by actor Ario Bayu and Producer/Director Putrama Tuta, enthusiasm was high when the auction began.

“Going once, going twice,” one after another, the items were sold to winners making bids much higher than expected. The biggest bid and shock of the night was for the memorabilia package, which sold for Rp 500 million to Putera Sampoerna, President of PT HM Sampoerna Tbk.

“I’m suddenly so happy. I’m shocked. I don’t know what more to say,” Putrama said after the auction. Having made one of the highest budgeted Indonesian films for a whopping Rp 5 billion, it could be regarded as a symbol of success for Indonesian people.

The contribution certainly lives up the movie’s tagline: “Finish what you started.”