Festival Film Dokumenter 2011

“WHY BE PRESENT IF YOU DON’T GROW, WHY GROW IF YOU DON’T DEVELOP, WHY DEVELOP IF IT’S NOT USEFUL.”

“HISTORIA DOCET!”

I think the two quoted sentences above are appropriate to represent the holding of the 10th Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD).

The first quote is Herlambang Y’s speech at the first FFD in 2002. A sentence that has become a source of encouragement for the Komunitas Dokumenter in its journey until now. A seed that was planted ten years ago has now become a tree. The Komunitas Dokumenter has grown, has developed but unfortunately we have not tasted the proper fruit from the tree we have planted. And this encourages us to continue and continue to develop and spread the seeds so that the benefits of the fruit can be felt by all creatures.

The presence of the Komunitas Dokumenter with its large FFD program is not just for celebrating a festival. FFD is here to be a space for appreciation, knowledge exchange and a form of activity for documentary activists and lovers. Programs such as SEA Doc, a screening program that shows the enthusiasm of documentary film makers in the Southeast Asia region, then a communal judging event involving high school students as a form of their appreciation for documentary films which are included in the competition program and SchoolDoc, a documentary film screening program which is held in several high schools in Yogyakarta as a form of socializing documentary films, discussion and seminar programs which always offer topics and knowledge that are always interesting and important, then a series of workshops packaged in the Master Class program which from 2007 until now always presents presenters. who have competence in each field which is then applied to the material provided and has an impact on the development of documentary works in Indonesia. The synergy of these programs is an element in the series of Festival Film Dokumenter which are always present every year.

Every year the festival is held, the number of films always increases, but this has not been accompanied by an increase in quality. We still think positively that the seeds of an increase in the number of films will one day be accompanied by decent quality. We believe that a process can be a more organic learning medium and be part of the process of improving what has been passed so far, we will not get tired of learning, we will not give up if we are wrong, and we will not be afraid to reflect on our shortcomings and then improve ourselves for the sake of a better history.

The theme of the FFD 2011 is history. “History teaches us lessons”, that is the meaning of the second quote above. a quote from P. Swantoro in his book Masa Lalu Selalu Aktual, became the basis for choosing the theme for this Festival. The journey from 2001 to 2011 was not an easy journey for a community. The outpouring of thought, time, energy, creating harmony becomes a large capital to maintain and run it. We have always considered the Komunitas Dokumenter a “home”. It is the duty of the people who live in it to care for and look after it. No need to ask, we often disagree, get angry with each other, and sometimes neglect our work. Yes, that’s what life looks like in our “home” and it teaches us lessons in it. If this house is to remain there then it must be there and vice versa, all of it is returned to the people who live in the community. Whether there is a Komunitas Dokumenter or not, documentary films in Indonesia will continue to grow.

And for the tenth time we are still holding this festival, running it with all our love for this “home”, this time we will hold the festival on 05-10 December 2011 at the Taman Budaya Yogyakarta, Lembaga Indonesia Perancis, and Tembi Rumah Budaya.

We believe that it is not yet time for our youthful enthusiasm and ambition to die out, we still have many desires and aspirations to build this house to be better. This journey has taught us many lessons for the future.

*automatically translated via Google Translate with minor edits.