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Orlow Seunke: The man behind the screen
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(JP/R. Berto Wedhatama) (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)
(JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)
Dutch filmmaker and producer Orlow Seunke is not a new name in the Indonesian movie industry. He is the man behind film festivals that screen international movies that never get a release in mainstream cinemas.
Seunke was the director of the Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest) and brought hundreds international films to over 60,000 people from 2003 to 2006.
Now the director of the Europe on Screen film festival, Seunke is modest about his accomplishments. 'I don't try to achieve anything at all. I just love movies. If I can share the films I like with others and they want to see the films then I am happy,' he said.
Seunke's life has always been about movies. Back in the Netherlands, he had a one-track mind on film. After high school, he continued his studies at the Dutch Film Academy where he made eight films over four years.
Upon graduating, he was involved in many short films and television films projects. He made his first feature film, The Taste of Water, in 1982 which won The Golden Lion for best first film at the Venice Film Festival
Since then he has made or produced dozens more films.
In 1989, Seunke started to visit Indonesia regularly, as he taught at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) for three months a year until 1992.
'Since then, I've come back to Indonesia every year,' he said.
Around 2000, he grew to dislike Europe, because he felt like the region had run out of energy, lacked self-reflection and was becoming less tolerant.
When Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, was assassinated in 2002, Seunke knew that it was time for him to leave. 'The atmosphere in the Netherlands wasn't nice. The only place where I knew some people was Indonesia,' he said.
He sold his house in Amsterdam and moved to Indonesia.
'I was excited to go there and I still am excited to be here because I think the future is in Asia, not in the West. It is fascinating to be part of the developments here,' he said. 'I don't miss the Netherlands at all.'
Seunke's move to Indonesia was supposed to be a sabbatical, but it turned out that he could not just sit still.
He organized scriptwriting classes and decided to take over JiFFest in 2003 when cofounder Shanty Harmayn wanted to stop it. Seunke thought it was essential to keep the festival going.
In between, he produced a movie for local theaters, Jermal, which was released in 2009.
Seunke says that he's not been busy with movie projects, although he has continued to work on several scripts.
'There is one particular script that I want to make, it's called Tante and Piet, which is written together with [author] Ayu Utami. It's about a pan-pal love story between an Indonesian woman and a Dutch man,' he said.
But, like everyone in the business, he might have to wait a little while before filming because of financing.
'I miss making movie very much. I miss telling stories in film and miss the tension with the audience ' how people react after the film is done,' said Seunke, whose local film picks include the 1989 hisotrical epic Tjoet Nja' Dhien
by Eros Djarot and Rudy Soedjarwo's Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? from 2002.
'I always like to satisfy an audience with my films ' not only by giving them what they want, but also by giving them what they don't know what they want.'
Having known Indonesia for many years and having witnessed the development of Indonesian movies, Seunke says he wants to help improve the industry.
He built a virtual Indonesian film museum, indonesianfilmcenter.com, in 2012 so people can find information on local films as well as watch Indonesian short films, documentaries, commercials and trailers.
The sites offers 750 films about the Dutch East Indies made between 1900 and 1949.
'Soon we want to show Indonesian films with streaming. It will not affect the local film business at all it's just another platform for the Indonesian producers to show their film after the film has been released in the cinema,' he said.
Seunke's interest in Indonesia was sparked as a boy when he saw many Indo-Dutch immigrants moving to the Netherlands between 1945 and 1952.
He visited the archipelago for the first time in 1967 for a holiday and was quickly hooked.
'My first impression of the country was overwhelming: the smell of kretek [clove cigarettes], delicious food and the people were extremely friendly with great hospitality,' the 61-year-old said.
Seunke considers himself very lucky to live in Indonesia.
'I'm a lucky man. I could ' and still can ' live while working with my passion, film.'
