Three Indonesian films win awards in Brussels

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Three Indonesian films have won international awards in the 35th
Independent International Film Festival held in Brussels, Belgium, on November 4-9, 2008.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official statement from the Indonesian embassy in Brussels
on Wednesday saying that Indonesia had won the awards for three film categories, namely the best
documentary film, the best film director and the best actress.

“Playing Between Elephants” of Aryo Danusiri won the best documentary film category, while the
“Tiga Hari Untuk Selamanya” (Three Days forever) film directed by Riri Reza won the best film
director category.

In the meantime, the best actress category was won by Artika Sari Devi in the `Opera Jawa` (Javanese
Opera) film of Garin Nugroho.

The three awards were received by Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxemburg and European Union, Najib Riphat Kesoema, who represented the three winners at the Jackques Frank Culture Center building in Brussels. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008 ANTARA
PubDate: 11/13/08 08:36

“Elephants” @ 35e FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM INDEPENDANT

http://www.centremultimedia.org/Featured-Country.185.0.html

The 35th International Independent Film Festival is one of the most important cinema and video events on the international scene. From November 4 to 9, Brussels will become a meeting point for filmmakers worlwide. More than 25 countries will take part in the 2008 edition of the Festival.

This year, the Festival present a special focus about the Indonesian films

AUDIENCE

The Festival is followed by the Belgian cinema and audio-visual press as a whole, but also by people world-wide and particulary from Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. In the audience are professionals in the audio-visual field, as well as young creators of the new generation (filmmakers, producers, actors, movie technicians, artists…). The total audience should be around 20.000 people, in addition to the young filmmakers who take part in the Festival.

Considering the important role of Brussels as the capital of Europe, the focus of Taiwan productions will have a tremendous effect at international level, as our Festival welcomes each year representatives of the most important cinema organisations and festivals world-wide.

DISCOVERY ABOVE ALL

An unmissable rendez-vous for independent filmmaking, films that never go out of fashion, a meeting place for open exchange, the Brussels International Independent Film Festival is an oasis of liberty for people whose concern is with inventing the cinema of tomorrow.

Open screens for auteur cinema, blending genres, rediscovering forgotten filmmakers or directors who have been pushed to one side, provoking cultural shocks and favouring the emergence of younger generations who know nothing of cultural or national boundaries are what the festival is all about. Other festivals are about celebrity: this one is about invention. This willing openness to all is accompanied by a rejection of glitzy premieres. That’s the essence of the festival: seeking out the new pulse on a planetary scale.

3 COMPETITIONS

These 3 competitions, all placed under the sign of tolerance and exchange, have important prizes and one primary objective: launching the maximum number of films and videos on the national and international markets, and attracting attention to new and significant forms of filmmaking

• National Competition: open to Belgian shorts and medium-length format

• International Competition: open to international short, medium and full-length formats.

• Filmmaking by the Deaf: This competition exists to encourage the deaf and the hard of hearing to meet through films and videos which reflect the special point of view the deaf have on the world, and is open to any film about deafness. This year the competition will be divided into two sections, one for work by the deaf, the other for work by the non-deaf.

Online Store “Playing Between Elephants”

earthprint.com

Harvard Film Study Center (FSC) Fellow 2008-09

“KAPSIS”

A Collaborative project of

EDGAR BARROSO / JUAN DE DIOS VAZQUEZ
A collaboration between a composer, a poet, a filmmaker, and a designer,Kapsis will be a 7 to 10 minute piece for flute, electro-acoustic music, and video art. It will portray the mesmerizing Nahua myth of a young girl who becomes a starfish.  Within the Florentine Codex there is a Nahuatl proverb which states the possibility that that which occurred before in the past, will once again repeat itself in the future.  In the same way, in the current project of writing and composing a Nahua operetta, the new converges with the old. The goal is to represent the unrepresented, to provide though structured musical figuration an understanding of invisible forces and principles that regulated not only the myths, riddles and proverbs of ancient Aztecs but also the pulse of contemporary indigenous politics. Zazanilli (which in Nahuatl means both “story” and “enigma”) is meant to be an oeuvre that will celebrate the bicentennial of Mexican independence, while bringing into question the so-called achievements of this significant event. 

Support by The Film Study Center at Harvard University

“Lukas’ Moment” @ Yale Conference

http://www.yale.edu/seas/IndonesiaArts.htm#Doc

YALE INDONESIA FORUM WORKSHOP 2008

The past can be memorialized in any of a wide variety of ways. Monuments, archival records, and political rhetoric all carry forward memories and narratives of what has gone before. In Indonesia, though, history is preserved by very different means, and the popular narrative of events is often found in arts and media.

As important as the arts are for discovering the past, though, the past is also important for the creation of art. Memories and historical events constitute an important topic for literature, music, dance, film, and other art in the archipelago. Often art is inspired by a desire to promote or preserve a narrative of struggle or success.

The Yale Indonesia Forum Workshop 2008 wants to look at the reciprocal relationship of narrative, memory and history with arts and culture in Indonesia. It aims to address, yet hopes not be strictly limited to, some of the following questions: What is the relationship between contemporary art forms and regional or national identity in Indonesia? What are the continuing influences of religion and nationalism on the arts? What are the creative and dynamic interactions between ‘traditional’ art forms and more contemporary? What are the evolving relationships between Indonesian art form and Western modernism? What have been the effects of an increasing commoditization of and international interest in the Indonesian art world? What is the role of art criticism within the Indonesian media on shaping the arts there, and what are the roles of external influences? How do local discourses about the arts differ from global or academic discourse? How has state sponsorship for the arts changed in the reformasi era, and how have artists responded?

Bringing together three pairs of a senior and a junior scholar, the conference organizers hope to achieve a balance between academic research that addresses these questions, by Indonesians and others, as well as bring in people actively and creatively engaged in contemporary Indonesian arts, media and culture.

An Invitation Letter from Osaka University

September 18, 2007

Dear Mr. Aryo Danusiri.

It is our great honor and pleasure to invite you to participate in our forthcoming Forum, “Playing Between Elephants – Aceh Reconstruction after Tsunami”, which will be held on October 11, 2007 at Clock Tower Centennial Hall, Kyoto University, Japan. This forum is planned and co-organized by Center for Integrated Area Studies (CIAS), Kyoto University with the aim to explore and exchange views on collaboration and evaluation of area studies and humanitarian assistance. We are very glad to have chance to join Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival with you, in order to research the new Asian Currents on films from the standpoint of the area studies.

Your economy class excursion airfare between your residence and Kyoto, and the per diem during your entire stay in Japan as well as domestic travel expenses in Japan will be borne by Osaka University.

We look very much forward to having you here in Japan.

Sincerely Yours,

NAKAMURA Yasyhide,
Professor,
Graduate School of Human Sciences,
Osaka University