Sharing perspectives: Yu Youngsok, the director of the Korean Academy of Film Arts (left), giving a scroll to Indonesian Film Producers Association chairwoman Sheila âLalaâ Timothy after a press conference at a hotel in Central Jakarta on Saturday
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Local film professionals are saying that they need better data on how many people are buying tickets for local movies so they can understand trends and make movies that meet local tastes.
Film critic Makbul Mubarak says that only some local companies have been open about the number of people watching movies in their theaters.
'We can find such data on filmindonesia.co.id and also at the BPS [Central Statistics Agency]- but they display different numbers. So we don't know which one is right,' Makbul, cofounder of film criticism website cinemapoetica.com, said.
'Moreover, the data is general,' Makbul said. 'There are no details on the number of viewers based on theater location or movie. This prevents us from conducting thorough research on people's movie tastes.'
The issue emerged during a discussion between Makbul, dozens of filmmakers and producers and Yu Youngsik, the visiting director of the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), on Friday in Jakarta.
The discussions, organized by the KAFA and the Association of Indonesian Film Producers (APROFI), were joined by local independent directors Joko Anwar, Mouly Surya and Ifa Isfansyah, scriptwriters Salman Aristo and Titin Watimena and actor Lukman Sardi, among others.
The event followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indonesia and South Korea to boost to boost cooperation in the creative industries, including film, in 2013.
Yu acknowledged that access to audience data, among other things, helped Korean filmmakers create cinematic blockbusters that strengthened that country's film industry.
'The early 1990s was 'Hollywood-movie fever' in South Korea,' Yu said during a press conference in Jakarta on Saturday. 'We struggled hard to [get] the public to watch Korean movies. We paid attention to statistics on audience numbers and their responses. Those became [sources of] vital criticism for filmmakers to improve their work.'
Aside from the discussion, filmmakers and producers got a chance to speak with Triawan Munaf, who heads Indonesia's Creative Economy Agency (BEKraf).
APROFI chairwoman Sheila 'Lala' Timothy echoed Makbul. 'To build our film industry, we need access to audience data and market size ' and also the government's support, through its policies. We have asked BEKraf to make strategies to help us to gain the data and to conduct research.'
As part of a cooperative agreement, 15 local producers and directors went to South Korea to observe that nation's film industry in January 2014; while 17 South Korean filmmakers took part in a workshop in Jakarta in June the same year to share experiences with their Indonesian counterparts.
Lala praised the program. 'It took ten years for South Korea to build its film industry. With the support from South Korean professionals, we hopefully can make such an achievement in less than ten years.'
Knowledge sharing would hopefully improve the ability of local filmmakers, she added. 'We have so many talents, but there are few filmmaking institutions in the country.'
According to Lala, the cooperative agreement may be continued for co-productions between Indonesian and Korean film companies in the future.
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