M

ovie star Marcella Zalianty has been enlisted as the public face of the upcoming Bali Documentary Film Festival, an annual event aimed at making Bali a center for documentary filmmaking.

Marcella, who is focusing on making documentaries in border areas, said that she was willing
to be this year’s festival ambassador because she wanted to support making documentaries outside
Jakarta.

“There are so many creative talents in other areas nationwide, outside Jakarta. We don’t need to do everything in Jakarta,” she said.

Through the event, Marcella said that she wanted to encourage budding documentarians to remain optimistic, despite the lackluster response documentaries have received in Indonesia.

National television stations still treat documentary films as ”second-class”, despite the money, time and energy needed to create a documentary, Marcella said.

She also voiced her concern that documentary filmmakers have had limited opportunities to show their creations, which in turn affects their quality and productivity.

On Bali, she said the island had a cinematic character. “Even Julia Roberts came to Bali, so why don’t we?” Marcella said, referring to the making of the Hollywood movie Eat, Pray, Love in Bali.

“Bali has potential to be a hub for documentary filmmaking,” she added.

She called on all stakeholders to develop the documentary film industry.

“I support the effort to develop documentary film in all areas of the nation, not only Bali, so that we can promote the diversity of Indonesia’s nature and culture.”

The third iteration of the Bali Documentary Film Festival is expected to be held later this year with the theme of “Women, Children and the Spirit of Unity in Diversity”.

Agung Bawantara from the festival’s organizing committee, said the festival was managed independently and would be independently funded during its next staging, as opposed to previous years, when the festival was held in cooperation with Bali’s Cultural Agency.

This year, the Arti Foundation for Cultural Development became the festival’s main supporter.

“This independence strengthens our position as a national-level competition. We are now free
and open to express our ideas,” Agung said.

He said he was optimistic that there would be better documentary films submitted to the festival, which would close its call for entries on June 6.