Mr. Simatupang is an Indonesian documentary director, producer, and filmmaker. He is the founder of the Youth Leadership Institute, an institute that provides training programs and seminars in human capital effectiveness, media, communication, and youth leadership skills. He specializes in media communication. I first met Mr. Simatupang in Raffles Institute of Higher Education Jakarta, Indonesia during my years studying there. He was my Academic Research Communication Skills lecturer (ARCS). My friend (current classmate who was from that same ARCS class) Shannon and I were lucky enough to land a video interview with him earlier this week. Unfortunately, the video recording the interview was corrupted, and therefore we lost the actual footage. However, I had a short clip of us calling him that I will attach at the end of the blog.
Since Mr. Simatupang is a filmmaker, director, and producer who had been in the industry for some time, we think that he would be a suitable candidate for us to learn from.
We started asking him questions about what it is like to be a filmmaker in Indonesia, and how does he feel about the movie industry in Indonesia. Below is the list of questions and his answers. (Disclaimer: The answers are mostly paraphrased unless stated otherwise.)
1. How did you get your start as a filmmaker?
I studied at Vancouver Institute of Media Arts (VanArts) back in 1998 and focused on Broadcast Performing Arts. Early in my career and school life, I was active in the film industry and often volunteered to make events happen. One of my works was nominated in the Vancouver Film Festival, where he got the chance to see movies from all around the world. One day, someone saw my potential and asked me to be the festival director of the Jakarta Film Festival in 2006. I was also lucky enough to get fully funded by the Netherlands and the Netherlands embassy for around 1 million Rupiah. One of the most significant struggles I had during the event is the enormous responsibility he got since there was no program director, he has to run and choose the movies featured in the festival.
2. You created the Youth Leadership Institute, can you explain to us what that is and why did you create such a community?
Youth Leadership Institute is a community established to teach youth about communication.
3. What's the number one piece of advice you have for young people who are in your field of work?
Film directing is complex. "No one can directly be a director." However, being a documentary director is different from other movie genres, because documentary movies give the director and filmmaker the freedom. I studied too much and volunteered a lot; therefore, I got exposed to a lot of chance, including getting one of my documentaries nominated in Nepal and Italy.
4. What do you always keep in mind when working with a group of people for a project?
Teamwork is a challenging thing for me. For documentaries, I usually get full creative control on the projects I work on. On location, I am a director, while out of the set, I am the producer. I also have to be patient, especially if I'm working with people who have a different view on the project. One time, I was working with a friend who was the DOP (director of photography) of my project, but outside this particular project, he was also a director. So when working together, the DOP would 'act' as the director by giving inputs that suit his beliefs, and it would sometimes clash with me and constraint the project time. But whatever you do, always say yes, because there is where you get your experience.
5. Have you ever had to work on a project that is different/against your beliefs? How do you deal with it?
Not really. Since the projects I do are usually documentaries, I get to write the stories myself and develop them towards my likings. But there is one time where the stakeholders of who was in charge of funding my newest documentary, "Dear Daddy at Home," had another opinion.
6. As an experienced Film Director, what are the criteria of an ideal junior film director?
"Start from something small." Making a movie is not just transferring the words written into the screens. You have to understand the script and the story and the characters' life. You also have to work with a lot of people to understand them more. Master psychology, if possible, so you will be able to see and learn people.
7. What do you consider a good movie?
For me, movies are like artworks. It is a story told in visual and sound, and it has to be reliable (the work). A movie must be relatable and imitates real life. Everything has to have an aura and emotions that project to the audiences. It must have dramaturgy - where the story has a flow, conflict, and strong ending. Lastly, you must have a purpose when creating a movie, whether it is to entertain, or even just for money. You have to be transparent with it from the beginning, as it will portray the film you create.
8. As time progresses, new trends have emerged, what do you think will be a huge trend in the film industry this year?
If you see the USA, you'll notice that the movie trend there are action CGI'd movies. However, when you see the awards for the best pictures, you will rarely see those movie genres. This is because I think people like a relatable story more than fancy visuals. In Indonesia, there is this movie called Wiro Sableng. It was one of the first technologically advanced movies with a budget of around 60 billion Rupiah. However, when it hits the theatres, it only got 6/7 billion Rupiah in return.
9. Why do you think that (referring to the previous answer he gave) happened in Indonesia?
People don't read. They don't know and care about the story, and therefore they cannot relate to the piece.
Reflection Corner:
Agree:
Since Mr. Simatupang is a filmmaker, director, and producer who had been in the industry for some time, we think that he would be a suitable candidate for us to learn from.
We started asking him questions about what it is like to be a filmmaker in Indonesia, and how does he feel about the movie industry in Indonesia. Below is the list of questions and his answers. (Disclaimer: The answers are mostly paraphrased unless stated otherwise.)
1. How did you get your start as a filmmaker?
I studied at Vancouver Institute of Media Arts (VanArts) back in 1998 and focused on Broadcast Performing Arts. Early in my career and school life, I was active in the film industry and often volunteered to make events happen. One of my works was nominated in the Vancouver Film Festival, where he got the chance to see movies from all around the world. One day, someone saw my potential and asked me to be the festival director of the Jakarta Film Festival in 2006. I was also lucky enough to get fully funded by the Netherlands and the Netherlands embassy for around 1 million Rupiah. One of the most significant struggles I had during the event is the enormous responsibility he got since there was no program director, he has to run and choose the movies featured in the festival.
2. You created the Youth Leadership Institute, can you explain to us what that is and why did you create such a community?
Youth Leadership Institute is a community established to teach youth about communication.
3. What's the number one piece of advice you have for young people who are in your field of work?
Film directing is complex. "No one can directly be a director." However, being a documentary director is different from other movie genres, because documentary movies give the director and filmmaker the freedom. I studied too much and volunteered a lot; therefore, I got exposed to a lot of chance, including getting one of my documentaries nominated in Nepal and Italy.
4. What do you always keep in mind when working with a group of people for a project?
Teamwork is a challenging thing for me. For documentaries, I usually get full creative control on the projects I work on. On location, I am a director, while out of the set, I am the producer. I also have to be patient, especially if I'm working with people who have a different view on the project. One time, I was working with a friend who was the DOP (director of photography) of my project, but outside this particular project, he was also a director. So when working together, the DOP would 'act' as the director by giving inputs that suit his beliefs, and it would sometimes clash with me and constraint the project time. But whatever you do, always say yes, because there is where you get your experience.
5. Have you ever had to work on a project that is different/against your beliefs? How do you deal with it?
Not really. Since the projects I do are usually documentaries, I get to write the stories myself and develop them towards my likings. But there is one time where the stakeholders of who was in charge of funding my newest documentary, "Dear Daddy at Home," had another opinion.
6. As an experienced Film Director, what are the criteria of an ideal junior film director?
"Start from something small." Making a movie is not just transferring the words written into the screens. You have to understand the script and the story and the characters' life. You also have to work with a lot of people to understand them more. Master psychology, if possible, so you will be able to see and learn people.
7. What do you consider a good movie?
For me, movies are like artworks. It is a story told in visual and sound, and it has to be reliable (the work). A movie must be relatable and imitates real life. Everything has to have an aura and emotions that project to the audiences. It must have dramaturgy - where the story has a flow, conflict, and strong ending. Lastly, you must have a purpose when creating a movie, whether it is to entertain, or even just for money. You have to be transparent with it from the beginning, as it will portray the film you create.
8. As time progresses, new trends have emerged, what do you think will be a huge trend in the film industry this year?
If you see the USA, you'll notice that the movie trend there are action CGI'd movies. However, when you see the awards for the best pictures, you will rarely see those movie genres. This is because I think people like a relatable story more than fancy visuals. In Indonesia, there is this movie called Wiro Sableng. It was one of the first technologically advanced movies with a budget of around 60 billion Rupiah. However, when it hits the theatres, it only got 6/7 billion Rupiah in return.
People don't read. They don't know and care about the story, and therefore they cannot relate to the piece.
Reflection Corner:
Agree:
- Movies are like artworks. Each filmmaker creates movies that reflect their personality and their likings.
- "No one can directly be a movie director". To be a director needs a lot of experience, either by watching other people's work or working under one. Work hard and learn the mistakes from your previous work to be better at what you do. And most importantly, direct a project that you feel comfortable with. That way, you will enjoy your work better and the outcome would be better when you are happy when working on it.
- When talking about the Wiro Sableng movie and why it "flopped", he mentions that "people (in Indonesia) don't read". This is partly true, as not every Indonesians are familiar with Indonesian folklores and stories. And since Wiro Sableng is an Indonesian folklore character, most of them who are not familiar with the story and character might not be as excited to watch, and therefore, the number of fans is lower than other movies.
Disagree:
- "A movie must imitate real-life to be considered a good movie". To me, movies that are unrealistic can be just as good. Everyone's definition of a 'good movie' varies. Some might think from the cinematography aspect, some might think about the storyline aspect. A good movie is very relative and indefinite. Movies which won awards doesn't mean it's the right decision that needs to be accepted by everyone, as everyone can feel differently from watching the same movie.
- "It must have dramaturgy". When Mr. Simatupang said these words (amongst the lines of), I immediately thought he could be rather biased. I feel like since Mr. Simatupang creates films that are real (mostly documentaries), he would prefer watching movies of similar kinds.
Comments
Post a Comment