Three Weeks Festival Successfully Ends in Hamburg

Indonesian Film Festival 2009: Focus on Riri Riza

Three Weeks Festival Successfully Ends in Hamburg!

 Hopes and expectations that a film festival offering Indonesian-only movies can attract European audiences have become a reality. The Indonesian Film Festival 2009: Focus on Riri Riza (IFF 2009) has proudly proven this fact. The IFF 2009 was held by the Indonesian Embassies in Prague, Vienna and Belgrade as well as the Indonesian Consulate General in Hamburg in cooperation with MILES Films and the SABILA Center for Competitiveness, featuring six feature films by acclaimed Indonesian film director, Riri Riza. These six movies were sent to Europe in 35 mm format: PETUALANGAN SHERINA (Sherina’s Adventure), ELIANA ELIANA, GIE, UNTUK RENA (Dear Rena), 3 HARI UNTUK SELAMANYA (3 Days to Forever) and LASKAR PELANGI (The Rainbow Troops), proving that both the movies and its reels can fulfill international quality and competitiveness standards.

 

Prague

Jiri Menzel, renowned Academy Award-winning Czech film director (Best Foreign Language Film 1967 Academy Awards for “Closely Watched Trains”) lent his full support to the IFF 2009, including by serving as patron of the film festival and delivering the remarks at the festival’s opening ceremony right before the screening of Laskar Pelangi in Prague on 19 May 2009.

Riri Riza, who took time out of his busy schedule to attend the first week of IFF activities was impressed by the enthusiasm of Laskar Pelangi’s audience in Prague which reached 350 people, mainly Prague citizens. He also experienced a surge of pride during his visit to the Filmova Skola Zlin, a film school with a known track record for animation productions, in the city of Zlin, 150 kilometers west of Prague, near the border to Slovakia. There, not only was he treated to the details of animation film making, but was also given the opportunity to discuss with the students who had just watched Laskar Pelangi and become curious about Indonesia.

 

Vienna

In Vienna the screening of Riri’s movies were integrated in the program of the “Into the City” segment of the annual Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen), a prominent annual international festival of arts and culture. Over 100 people packed the art-house cinema Top Kino, located near Vienna’s vibrant Mariahilferstrasse, to watch the Austrian premier of Laskar Pelangi on 22 May 2009. Head curator of “Into the City-Asian Village” who is also a noted world music expert, Mr. Wolfgang Schlag, provided the welcoming speech before the screening. On the following days, Gie, Eliana Eliana and 3 Hari untuk Selamanya were also shown at Top Kino. In Vienna, Riri was able to hold discussions with audience members after the showing of Laskar and Gie prior to his return to Jakarta on Sunday, 24 May 2009.
 

Ljubljana

The Indonesian Embassy in Vienna also took time to show Laskar Pelangi in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, where the Embassy is also accredited to. The screening held on Monday, 25 May 2009 was filled with over 100 Indonesian and Slovenian. For many Slovenians, this was their first opportunity to watch a full length Indonesian feature film and at the end were very happy with this experience.

Belgrade

Our Embassy in Belgrade did not spare any lengths in making the IFF 2009 a success. Through cooperation with the Yugoslav Film Archive and the Serbian Film Center, they managed to reign in the participation of Serbia’s top movie directors, critics, producers and members of the country’s film academia to hold discussions as follow ups to the festival. Indonesian Ambassador to Belgrade, Mr. Muhammad Abduh Dalimunthe, Advisor to the Serbian Cultural Minister, Mr.Goran Markovic, famed Serbian film director and an expert on Asian films from the Serbian Film Center, Miroljub Stojanovic acted as panelists to this discussion. According to Mr. Markovic, Riri’s works can be viewed as a reflection of film renaissance efforts that are also being spearheaded in Serbia. Another panelist, Mr. Stojanovic, emphasized Riri’s stature as a director able to follow world cinematographic trends, while at the same time able in producing unique and quality works.

Hamburg

Hamburg was the last locale of the IFF 2009. Laskar Pelangi, the first movie to be shown here, was praised by the 250-odd invitees who attended the screening at the Abaton Hamburg cinema. The Indian Consul General to Hamburg, Dr. Vinod Kumar, commented that the film was heart warming and delivered an important message for the younger generation to not give up in the face of life’s many challenges. Meanwhile, the head of the Indonesia-Germany Association, Paul Jurgen, who had lived in Indonesia for some time as a teacher in a German school, stressed that a number of less-privileged Indonesians had high eagerness to study and eventually achieved success in Indonesia.

Epilogue

The idea for the IFF 2009 was conceived in late 2008. In sum, around 2000 citizens of the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Serbia and Germany watched the six films on show at the festival. Furthermore, half of this figure represents moviegoers who came to watch Laskar Pelangi.

Riri Riza underscored his happiness with the success of the film festival which was covered by print and online media, television and radio in six different languages. He also expressed his hope that similar activities can be convened in other related fields in the future, with the support from the government and private sectors, with the ultimate aim to promote Indonesia’s potential and competence to the world.