Festival Film Dokumenter 2013

Documentary is one of the starting points in our cinema history. Around 1911, the Europeans started to make films in the Indonesian archipelago. They recorded the daily activities with the purpose of introducing this country’s life to the people in the Netherlands. After that, documentaries have grown and evolved along with the needs of the rulers just like in the era of Japanese’s colonization, where documentaries had become an effective propaganda instrument. This condition was increasingly emphasized when the New Order (Orde Baru) was in charge. This regime was actively making propaganda, limiting the expression of the filmmaker and the censorship institution was sorting which issue was worth to be published and which issue was not. This social experience has made the Indonesian audience traumatized with documentaries, or at least be at a distance of documentary, so that documentary is like walking on the edge of Indonesia cinema history.

In December 2002, Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD) was held for the first time. At that time, FFD was trying to give an alternative space for documentaries, as a critic on how the documentary is marginalized in Indonesian cinema. Slow but sure, the number of documentaries which are included in Indonesia Documentary Competition Program (Program Kompetisi Dokumenter Indonesia) is increasing. Unfortunately, this enhancement wasn’t followed by its qualities. Lots of documentaries only just tell stories bluntly rather than developing the story telling methods itself.

This year FFD accepted 95 Indonesian documentaries. This number indicates two things. First, the increasing numbers of new filmmakers. Second, an increase of willingness from filmmakers to entry their films to festivals. This is a good start, and we hope it will continue. Meanwhile, together we will see how far documentarians push their limits against various forms that may be dogmatic.

FFD invites all of us to emphasize the history of Indonesia documentaries achievement. Even so, by emphasizing it, there might be new standards in documentaries. But absolutely this is a cycle. The standards will be created over and over for better qualities.

The presence of Festival Film Dokumenter which was initiated by Forum Film Dokumenter is an effort to mark the process in the history of Indonesian documentaries by emphasizing Indonesia documentaries achievement. So that later, every achievement can be used as references to regain the new ones.

Franciscus Apriwan