Film and Art Celebration Returns to the Spotlight on National Film Day
Jakarta. Film and Art Celebration, or Filartc, has returned to the spotlight on this year's National Film Day celebrated on Thursday (30/03).
The program, themed "Celebrating Diversity in Indonesia," is hosted by the State Film Company (PFN) in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta until Saturday.
"Diversity is not only about religion and ethnicity, but also thoughts and attitudes that can be lost because of the interests of certain groups," Filartc 2017 organizing committee head Adrianto Sinaga said.
PFN was chosen as the event's venue because of its historical importance for Indonesian cinematography.
"PFN used to produce big, defining films, it doesn't matter [now] if we liked them or not. The question is how it can produce big films again and focus on diversity," said director Lasja Susatyo.
The event also seeks to attract more attention to the studio, which used to be the country's center of filmmaking.
"I remember that one of Teguh Karya's films, 'Ibunda' [1986], was produced entirely here, spent all of its process here, but in 1990s we needed to go overseas to complete some stages. We should remember that it was all possible to get it done here back in Teguh Karya's days," Adrianto said.
The first day of Filartc started with a public discussion "National Cinema: Government's Policy and Cultural Investment" led by Creative Economy Agency head Triawan Munaf and producers Mira Lesmana and Sheila Timothy.
The discussion was followed by the premiere of "Petualangan Si Unyil" ("The Adventures of Unyil"), an animated reboot of the legendary puppet television series, and a wayang kulit (shadow puppet theater) performance by Ki Wicaksono Permadi.
Another event was the launch of two books published by the Ministry of Education and Culture: "Celebrating National Films" and "Catalog of Indonesian Films 2008-2015."
The ministry's Film Development Center (Pusbang Film) also gave Lifetime Achievement Awards to 10 individuals dedicated to Indonesia's film industry, who normally work in the background and are not recognized during glamorous galas — production team members, make-up artists, film journalists.
Besides daily performances and screenings, Filartc features exhibitions of film stills, costumes and historical artifacts.
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