TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Almost all of the seats of the mini theater at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, the United Kingdom, was filled. Since 20.00 local time, viewers enjoyed a two and a half hour screening of an Indonesian film named Sang Penari (The Dancer). The movie adapted from a novel by Ahmad Tohari managed to captivate London residents who were willing to wait in a long line just to purchase tickets for this film.
Viewers in London were lucky because they were able to watch the complete unedited version of the film starred by Indonesian actors Prisia Nasution and Oka Antara.
"In Indonesia, only the censored version was allowed to play (in theaters). The censored version was not artistically edited and ruined the plot," said the film's director, Ifa Isfansyah.
Sang Penari was chosen as the first Indonesian film to be played during the Terracotta Far East Film Festival held in the heart of London from June 6 to 15 2013. Terracotta is a film festival that screens movies by Asian filmmakers. The annual festival held at Prince Charles Cinema and ICA provided an opportunity for London residents to become familiar with the diversity of Asia's newest films.
During its fifth year, this festival gave Indonesian filmmakers a chance to screen their movies during a special session named Spotlight on Indonesia.
"We want to show that Indonesian directors can also produce great Asian films through this festival," festival director Joey Leung told Tempo last Tuesday. He said people in the UK are more familiar with films from Hong Kong, China, and Japan.
Aside from Sang Penari, many other Indonesian films were screened during this special session such as Postcards from the Zoo by Edwin, Lovely Man by Teddy Soeriaatmadja, What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love by Mouly Surya, and two films by Garin Nugroho entitled Mata Tertutup (Eyes Shut) and Opera Jawa (Javanese Opera).
Indonesian Ambassador to the UK Hamzah Thayeb hopes the involvement of these Indonesian films in this annual festival will be able to promote the glory of Indonesian films internationally.
VISHNU JUWONO (LONDON)
