Putting Indonesia on the filmmaker's map

Features - May 29, 2008

Trisha Sertori, Contributor, Gianyar

Footage of legendary comedian Charlie Chaplin will be a highlight of the upcoming traveling Balitaksu Film Festival later this year.

Rare footage of the actor in Bali will be screened during the festival -- footage never seen before, according to film festival organizers, Bulantrisna Djelantik, Deborah Gabinetti and Sarita Newson.

"This is a great coup. We have been given the rights to screen footage of Chaplin's holiday in Bali in 1932. It will be extraordinary," said Gabinetti, adding the festival had also been given Chaplin's itinerary of his journey to Indonesia and press clippings of the period.

Chaplin in Bali created no stir at all, says the New York Herald of June 12, 1932: "There were no mobs making frenzied efforts to see them (Chaplin and brother Syd), no newspaper reporters to ask if they liked this or that, and no cameramen attempting to get intimate portraits."

Chaplin's earlier arrival in Jakarta was quite different. He was "mobbed by children in Batavia", says his itinerary before "motoring" to Garoet (the West Java town of Garut) and then taking the train to Yogyakarta.

But it was Bali that most enchanted Chaplin, who extended his stay to discover if humor was universal. Some classic Chaplin slapstick gave him his answer, said caricaturist Al Hirschfield.

"Chaplin said 'I wonder if they will laugh at the same things'... he threw his pith helmet in the air and the people were just startled. They thought he had some kind of demonic powers.

"Then he showed them how he did this and they were screaming with laughter. In Bali he was known as the funny man, so that kind of humor went beyond borders, I mean it was as easily understood in Bali as it was in New York," said Hirschfield.

And it is that universal understanding within comedy, drama, documentaries -- and film -- that the Bali Film Festival organizers are hoping to tap during the festival.

"In this second year of the film festival we decided to make it a traveling festival to reach as wide an audience as possible. By taking the films into communities many more people will have the opportunity to see the diversity in the festival's film lineup ... be introduced to the many film genres," said Gabinetti.

She added several major U.S. filmmakers, such as Sony/Columbia, had expressed interest in the festival and might be submitting new films.

"We hope to have around 50 films for the festival, which runs from Oct. 21 through Oct. 31," she said.

As well as films from the world's best filmmakers, the festival is also a unique platform for young Indonesian film students to have their work screened.

Balitaksu will host a film workshop for the nation's young filmmakers prior to the festival. Their films will screen during the festival, offering them an opportunity to not only train under leading international directors, but to place their works before an audience.

Working with young Indonesian filmmakers is a key element of the festival, according to Sarita Newson, who said this year's festival theme was "Bridging Cultures through Creativity".

"The festival's theme talks about, from an internal view, the many different cultures within Indonesia and from an external view, explaining or introducing the multilayered cultures of Indonesia to the world," said Newson, adding the creative element of film could present Indonesia and raise awareness of the nation's talents and diversity.

To ensure that cultural bridge is realized, the Balitaksu film festival aims to have half of its program filled with films from Indonesian filmmakers.

"We hope to have good Indonesian films for our local audience, but also with a mix of interesting international films. This gives our filmmakers material to be stimulated by. Material that they would not normally have access to," said Newson.

Co-coordinating the film selection jury is well known Indonesian actress, Christine Hakim, who is also a founding member of Balitaksu, Newson added.

The Balitaksu Film Festival will screen in Denpasar, Nusa Dua, Kuta, Seminyak and Ubud between Oct. 21 and Oct. 31. For more information on the festival and volunteer roles, contact Sarita Newson on 0361 287 816.