Jakarta International Film Festival Kicks Off this Weekend

December 2, 2009

Cairo. Doha. Dubai. Jakarta. These are just a few of the Muslim-majority cities that have held major, prominent film festivals in the last year, celebrations which too-often get sidelined by mainstream media in favor of, well, minarets and the like. Still, the popularity of these festivals is ever-increasing, and the trend continues this weekend with the annual Jakarta International Film Festival Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest) in Indonesia, impressively now in its 11th year.

The Indonesian film industry and the festival itself have come a long way from even just ten years ago, when the country was producing only 4 official films per year (it now release about 100 per year). Highlights from this year’s festival are plentiful, including the fact that this is the first time ever that the open night film will be Indonesian itself. The film, “Sang Pemimpi” (“The Dreamers”), is the sequel to Indonesia’s biggest box-office hit of all time, “Laskar Pelangi” (“The Rainbrow Troops”), which was released last year. The film festival will close with an invitation-only screening of “New York, I Love You.”

JiFFest will also include a Madani Film Festival, which will focus on films that have an Islamic theme. Interestingly, the Swiss Embassy will be doing some damage control with a Swiss Design in Hollywood Exhibition Master Class, and the visual effects guy from “The Matrix,” will also be holding a special class.

As with many film festivals though, there’s always gotta be that one badass hogging all of the much sought-after publicity-gold controversy that the rest of the films are jealous of. This year’s Ms. Congeniality Award goes to “Balibo,” an Australian film depicting the murder of the “Balibo 5,” a group of journalists who were allegedly killed by the Indonesian military during the country’s 1975 invasion of East Timor. The Australian Federal Police have recently opened an investigation on the murders, and Indonesia’s response has been a national ban on the film by the country’s censorship board.

Even though Indonesia’s film industry seems to be undergoing a resurgence as of late, the film’s ban is just one example of limitations that exist due to the country’s strict government. Indonesia is also currently in the midst of a heavy debate on the passing of a law passing of a law. that would ban anybody that does not have a film degree from making a film. Screenplays would also have to be submitted to the government for approval.

I sincerely hope this restrictive law doesn’t go through, because all in all, there are great developments coming lately from the film scene in Indonesia and other Muslim countries around the world, and I want to see even more edgy, new and provocative stuff. For full information on the festival, visit: http://www.jiffest.org/