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BookWorm: Rudi Soedjarwo: Basically a dreamer, imagining new things

Kapanlagi

Ika Krismantari (The Jakarta Post)
Mon, May 11, 2015 Published on May. 11, 2015 Published on 2015-05-11T08:44:17+07:00

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BookWorm: Rudi Soedjarwo: Basically a dreamer, imagining new things

Kapanlagi.com

Auteur film director Rudi Soedjarwo is the kind of person who reads everything. The 43-year-old says that his reading list covers comics, novels, biographies and architectural and design books.

While he doesn'€™t have any favorite writer, Rudy says he happily accepts recommendations from famous people. '€œI will read what Oprah Winfrey reads,'€ he told The Jakarta Post recently.

To improve his craft, the director of the classic teen romance Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What'€™s Up with Love?) said he likes reading books on copywriting. '€œI need it for my creative process. Sometimes I need just the perfect word to convey something, and these kinds of books help.'€

Rudi is in the process of launching two films this year to redefine himself as a filmmaker: Stay With Me and 1000 Algojo (1,000 Executioners).

He says that he'€™s left the old rules of movie making behind to find a new storytelling idiom.

With his time dedicated to filmmaking, Rudi said he did not have much time to read '€” something that he regrets.

'€œI usually read while I am waiting for something,'€ he said.

Senopati Pamungkas
by Arswendo Atmowiloto

When I was young, I was never a fan of books '€” I only read comics. But when I stumbled upon Senopati Pamungkas, it hooked me. It was the first book with no illustrations that I liked. I don'€™t know why exactly it interested me, but I find that the story was amazing.

Design and architectural books

I don'€™t really care about the writers. All design and architectural books and magazines '€” or even catalogues '€” fascinate me. I can survive 18-hour flights from Jakarta to America by looking at only a single page of interior designs. This kind of thing enthralls me so much that I sometime forget to recline my seat. Suddenly, the flight already arrives somewhere.

This is because I am basically a dreamer. I like to imagine things. The image triggers my imagination. When I see a page with the design that I like, I sometimes imagine having a house or an office with that particular design. I am particularly fond of homey architectural designs but not the industrialist and minimalist style.

The Measure of a Man
by Sydney Poitier

This is an autobiography [of the great actor]. I read this book because Opray Winfrey recommended it. She said this was a good book and I wanted to read it. It is interesting because it is written from a '€œman'€™s'€ point view '€” and once you read it, you should know how to behave like good man.

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