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Entertaining documentaries set to feature in Jakarta
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B.B. King: The Life Of Riley
For many Indonesians, documentaries aren't considered as entertaining as feature films. A documentary film festival organized by the Dutch cultural center, Erasmus Huis, later this week aims to change that.
Documentary film lovers in Indonesia often face difficulties in accessing high-quality documentaries, likely because, culturally speaking, Indonesians mostly view films as a source of entertainment and that is why the market here is still ruled by feature films. For most Indonesians, documentaries are perceived as more fitting toward academics and not entertaining.
However, the Erasmus Documentary Film Festival (ErasmusDocFest) documentary film festival set to be held on Sept. 6 to 13 at the Dutch cultural center Erasmus Huis on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta, aims to prove that documentaries can be as entertaining as mainstream feature films.
'We will show 39 films from all over the world. We have 93 screenings spread over three venues in Jakarta. All for free,' ErasmusDocFest director Orlow Seunke said.
The first section focuses on musical documentaries. In this section, visitors can enjoy documentaries on musicians, concerts and the music industry in general.
There are 10 films in the music section, with notable documentaries B.B. King: The Life Of Riley and Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Rock and Roll.
People interested in large-scale documentaries, such as the 2014 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) winner Of Men and War, can visit the XTRA section. A documentary from this section called Hip-Hop ' Eration, which tells the story of 90-year-olds who compete in the World Hip-Hop Championships, will also be featured as the opening film at the festival.
Film enthusiasts in search of new documentaries that are waiting to be discovered can visit the Discovery section. The films in this section discuss specific issues. Recommended for viewing are 10 Billion ' What's On Your Plate, Between The Devil and The Deep and Brakeless.
Another interesting section for visitors is Focus On Indonesia. This section features documentaries about Indonesia. The documentaries in this section were all made abroad. A highlight from this section is an epic three-hour documentary from 1976 called Indonesia Merdeka. It features an interview with Indonesia's first vice president, Mohammad Hatta, from two years prior to his death.
Another highlight from the Focus On Indonesia section is Mahamoelia, a documentary from 1929 about the Dutch-East Indies, provided by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. This documentary features a story on pre-independence Indonesia in seven parts through Borneo and Sumatra. This silent movie is accompanied by music composed by students of the Sjuman School of Music and executed live by the Trinity Youth Symphony Orchestra.
The fifth section is Focus On Film. In this section, visitors can enjoy documentaries that tell the life of filmmakers, writers and directors. It also features documentaries on the history and development of film franchises, such as James Bond.
Erasmus Huis has allocated six different sections of its complex to feature the documentaries during the festival.
'At Erasmus Huis we will screen all of the films on four screens. The auditorium and outside will be used to screen 'big' films and music films. The cinema tent will be used for the Discovery films and the library for the Focus on Film section,' Seunke said.
To complement the five sections screening documentary films on various topics is the Fringe Event section.
For the Fringe Event section, Erasmus Huis has invited five renowned international documentary filmmakers ' Iika Vehkalahti from Finland, Don Edkins from South Africa, Leonard Retel Helmrich from the Netherlands, Valentin Thurn from Germany and Laurent Becue-Renard from France ' who will give lectures at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) and also do an interactive Q & A session after the screening of their films.
Seunke said that he hoped the festival would show the importance of documentaries for a young democracy such as Indonesia.
'For me, journalists and documentary filmmakers are the 'conscience' of a democracy. They reflect society, they ask the critical questions, they question the ones who are in power and they investigate important matters. For this, sometimes they are molested or even disappear,' Seunke said.
'After president Soeharto stepped down in 1998 democracy was installed. We can say Indonesia is a very young democracy. And given the short time span, in my opinion, Indonesia is doing very well. One can measure the strength of a democracy by the topics that can be discussed openly.
'A documentary film festival is a platform to share different worlds and different opinions with an audience.'
Seunke also said that he was sure the festival would also change Indonesian's perception of documentaries.
'I can guarantee that the documentaries are thrilling and entertaining,' he said.
'I know there is a prejudice against documentaries. People say they are boring or heavy or that there is always a message. I invite you to ask for screeners and see for yourself.'
All screenings and fringe events are free and open to the public, on a first-come-first-serve basis. Tickets can be picked up at the venue, one hour before a screening begins. All films have English subtitles. For schedules and more information, please visit erasmusdocfest.com
' Photos courtesy of Erasmus Huis
