Dimas Jayasrana, the board’s head of international festivals and relations, told Antara on Monday that attending the festival was an act of flimsy courtesy.

“As if us Indonesians are part of the world’s film community. For me, that is delusional. I prefer that we solve the fundamental problems we have waiting at home,” he said, responding to a question of why there was no Indonesian delegation at the festival.

He added that Indonesia should refrain from attending the Cannes Film Festival for at least the next three years.

“Indonesia has opened booths at Cannes for years, and it was all for nothing. We don’t have any strategy and furthermore, [any] follow up. This much I can say: it was a waste of budget and energy," said Dimas.

He stated that films include social, cultural and educational elements, but that the government and the private sector did not provide sufficient support.

He proposed that the country analyze its position in the global market and the festival. “Who and what are we today? Do we really need Cannes? On what grounds and for whom?” he said, adding that Indonesia needed a big strategy to follow. “BPI cannot answer all these questions on our own,” he said.

Three institutions are known to have roles in the film industry, namely BPI, the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) and the Culture and Education Ministry’s Film Development Center (Pusbangfilm). However, the institutions have not been fully integrated.

Dimas also pointed out that the country seemed to lack confidence, hence very few Indonesian films ever made it onto the international scene.

Before joining BPI, Dimas was involved in film communities and had been the deputy cultural attaché at Institute Français Indonesia until 2015. (wng)

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