Maya Awards: (JP/Jerry Adiguna)

The movie features the first encounter of a transgender sex worker, Ipul (played by Donny Damara), with his teenage pregnant daughter, Cahaya (Raihaanun Soeriaatmadja).

“The dialogues in the film are so deep,” Andre said.

Andre was among dozens of audience members who watched a series of films at the School of Audio Engineering (SAE Institute) campus in Jakarta leading up to the awarding ceremony of Piala Maya (Maya Awards).

The Maya Awards may not be very well known to many people but thousands of followers of the Twitter account @FILM_Indonesia have been anticipating the event, which has grown from the account. Followers of the account gathered in the real world to hold the award event for the first time this year in a bid to showcase quality Indonesian
movies.

This Twitter activism grew into something more serious after the judging panel for the government-sponsored Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) — the long-standing national event to annually review Indonesian movies — issued nominations for this year’s winners.

The event received the expected discontent voiced by moviemakers, actors and enthusiasts, who believed that several significant productions were not included and the selection was bias towards certain productions.

The week of screening was closed last week with an award night on Saturday, which announced winners across 27 categories.

Lovely Man became the darling of the night, receiving Maya Awards for best actor, best director and best movie.

This is the third award for Donny, which has received a Citra Award and an Asia Film Award in the category.

Veteran actress Jajang C. Noer won best actress for her role in Mata Tertutup (Eyes Shut).

The event, which was still largely funded by personal initiatives, received support from moviemakers, who screened their movies and participated in discussions.

Creator of the Twitter account, Hafiz Husni, a private company employee and an avid movie enthusiast, said he initiated the account in 2009 because of his passion for films. He used the account to attract reviews and discussions about Indonesian films and reached over 86,000 accounts.

His love for film did not grow overnight. Hafiz said he grew up watching a television program called Apresiasi Film Indonesia (Indonesian Movies Appreciation) on the only national TV channel Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) in the 1980s. The program, which featured movie trailers and interviews with filmmakers, inspired him to focus on films.  

“Today, social media enables us to appreciate films from the audience’s angle. The more awards we have, the more exposure Indonesian films will get,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Previously, he made his own version of the awards in 2010 and 2011 by posting nominations of memorable and impressive films and actors. His idea to bring the awards to the real world instantly received a warm welcome among people who interacted with the account.

Among the feature films yet to have theatrical releases are Parts of the Heart, Kita vs. Korupsi and Postcards from the Zoo. Reluctance to censor and lack of screening opportunity have prevented commercial screening.

Garin said he felt honored to be nominated for the Maya Awards and considers the award to be more important than FFI.

“This is a small festival that is done seriously by young people. This award is a part of their passion to improve cinema. That is why I chose to attend Maya Awards over FFI,” he told the Post.  

Lovely Man director Teddy Soeriaatmadja said he made the small budget movie to express his passion and idealism as a moviemaker. He considers the awards and nominations for his movie an honor and bonus.

Film observer Hikmat Darmawan said film appreciation is an important part of the film industry because it introduces films to society and sets a benchmark.

“Film awards are necessary to establish quality guidance. The Maya Awards are interesting because it comes from the audience and shows the standard set by the audience,” he said.

He said FFI, which is held by the government, is not like it used to be in the 1980s and cited the controversy surrounding the winners of the event.

Film academic Tito Imanda said unlike the Academy Awards, which has 1,000 judges and a voting system, FFI has a small and closed door judging system and it only represents the government.

Tito said it will be difficult to make the FFI appealing to filmmakers and the audience if the committee depends on a television station that usually focuses on high ratings.

“In America, the event is independent, so TV stations have to compete for the rights to air it. Here, it is upside down. It makes the event depend on the TV set-up,” he said.

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