Gotot, we're delighted that you will be joining us in Brisbane for the screening of your new film KANTATA TAKWA. The film has been a long time in development and is a brilliant mix of experimental techniques, uniquely Indonesian political sensibilities and a rockin' music video style. We know BIFF audiences are going to lap up the chance to truly step into another world with KANTATA TAKWA and we were hoping you could illuminate it a little with us.
DZ: Can you tell us about your role in KANTATA TAKWA?
GP: Actually the director and conceiver of the film Kantata Takwa were only me (Gotot Prakosa) and Erros Djarot, while Slamet Rahardjo was the supervisor, as were Soetomo Gandasubrata and Chalid Arifin (deceased) who, besides doing their professions as cameraman and production designer, also doubled as supervisors: with them we had numerous sessions of exchanging ideas and considerations during the length of the shoot. Since the beginning, we wanted to make a film that was more than just a documentary. Together with Erros Djarot, I designed the scenes, wrote the script, did the scene drawings like the storyboard and set floor-plan.
DZ: In an interview with Australian experimental film legends, Arthur and Corinne Cantrill (Cantrills Filmnotes, issue 63/64, December 1990), you describe the film as being 'in the spirit of a gamelan performance' - can you explain to a Brisbane audience what this means?
GP: Yes, even today I still stick to this principle, that is that music or a sound element must be dealt with before shooting commences, meaning that sound is the basis for the forming of the images. In KANTATA TAKWA it all started with music because Kantata Takwa was the name of a music band that was very popular in the 1990s. Their music was good according to me and the lyrics were very suggestive and critical of some of the social problems that existed then in my country in the 1990s. Also, because, since my childhood days the sound of gamelan was very familiar around the family, and when I went to the Taman Siswa kindergarten, we had gamelan and Javanese dance classes. Gamelan so to speak accompanies my life since I came into this world until today, when I became an artist and now as I work as an instructor and also serve as dean of Fakultas Film dan Televisi, Institut Kesenian Jakarta, almost every day the sound of gamelan and other Indonesian traditional music resonates around us. The spirit of gamelan is indeed embodied in life itself.
DZ: Can you explain the meaning of the film's title?
GP: KANTATA TAKWA, according to my interpretation, means to pray for the wellbeing of all human kind, of all the artists (the musicians who joined the Kantata Takwa group and the film makers/workers who teamed up to produce this film). To us, a film is the embodiment of democracy in Indonesia, of which the majority of the population are Muslims. However when I make a film that voices Islamic values, it does not mean the film is a faith propagating film. I see that Islam in Indonesia is very diverse, indeed some are hardliners, but most are the opposite or moderate, and all coexist side by side. Iwan Fals expresses his being a Muslim through rock music, and why not? Dangdut music or kasidahan music (Arabic religious music) is not the only choice, is it? Iwan Fals' music that I recorded in this film is a very good expression of spontaneity: that, in my opinion is a great example of freedom of expression. So his satirical criticism of the New Order regime at that time often infuriated the government and made them want to detain and incarcerate him. Rendra played in the film and he was more than once arrested and put behind bars.
DZ: Many people here don't have a full understanding of Indonesian politics, and it seems to me that the film has a number of very powerful messages. Can you explain the significance of some the ideas you are communicating in the film?
GP: Indeed, this film by Erros and me wishes to express or be a witness to the bad conditions in Indonesia when the New Order regime was in power and tyranny reigned. Many of my friends were arrested or kidnapped, and some have even disappeared and never been found until today. Corruption and nepotism was rife, committed by the "big family", and in one of the scenes of the film I personified it in the person of the power-wielding "Pak Lurah". Indonesian viewers might possibly catch what this satirical scene represents, and how this situation later gave rise to mockery. From this sprang Iwan Fals' song "Bongkar," and also earlier, when Iwan Fals criticized the tycoons and super-wealthy people with his song "Bento" which typified greedy authorities who wielded excessive power, owned vast areas of land and kept many mistresses. It was basically all about corruption!
Even as he blared away with his songs, Iwan Fals said he always had nightmares of being chased by the military, and when caught his teeth would be pulled out with pliers. The film Kantata Takwa was actually sort of realizing the different ideas and dreams of its cast, as they also experienced feelings of fear when making the film, because at every shoot I often got phone calls from the authorities telling me not to go on making the movie. But being artists we hated to see our wish, or what we were trying to create, stopped.
We were of course gripped by fear that at the time of release we might go to jail, me, Erros, and the others. But indeed Allah painted a different picture as Indonesia stumbled into a condition of crisis! The socio-economic turmoil lasted for a while and led to Suharto's downfall, Habibie took over the presidency, followed later by Gusdur and Megawati. At that time I did not yet intend to finish the film due to financial constraint if it were released in celluloid form [a film release print for showing in cinemas runs to five figures - DZ]. But in 2008 when I started to enjoy digital technology, some movie theaters were willing to show films digitally, and so this led to the idea of completing the film by digital means. So after having been kept in my house for some 18 years, we resumed work on the film material with the editor and colorist Tri Rahardjo, so that it could be shown in digital cinemas and various international film festivals. Finally this brought me back on track attending film festivals since April 2008 and so here I am at the Brisbane International Film Festival.
DZ: The film has many memorable moments (such as the incredible scene of the pianist Yockie Suryoprayogo ‘floating' through the streets of Jakarta). There is some absolutely beautiful imagery that opens the film - footage of the running men, that looks like hand-tinted slowed-down film, shot in a mysterious forest or swamp. Can you tell us any more about these scenes?
GP: Erros and I wanted to portray soldiers (men in power during Suharto's regime) but to make it a little vague/obscure so they did not too obviously look like the military, and so we made them wear masks. These masked soldiers were supposed to fear being contaminated by the air inhaled by the people. The scene of Iwan and Djabo being pursued by the soldiers was also a part of the two characters' nightmares. What is interesting to note was that in the shoot in the woods near Rendra's house, I found a large cobweb covering the bushes and trees. I instantly decided to use the cobweb as part of the story, as I remembered the story of the Prophet Muhammad entering a cave full of cobwebs as he hid from his pursuing enemies. So I placed this scene at the beginning of the film, as if entering a mystery, and why despite the pressure and repression by the government, the Indonesian people managed to survive which was possible because they were saved by nature, by spiders.
DZ: How has KANTATA TAKWA been received by Indonesian audiences?
GP: To me, the fact that the film was released at all had been an exhilarating relief! The more so when the film could be shown to the Indonesian public. In fact I did so and even went on a road show from village to village. We got a great reception and people loved being able to see their idol Iwan Fals back, if only in a film on an open air screen. What was interesting and what made me happy was the joy the film brought to these rural parts as people spontaneously sang and danced to the songs of Iwan Fals and Kantata Takwa as the show went on. The same happened at the Yogya Netpac Film Festival as people sang and danced in the cinema where the film was shown. I guess that's why it's won some awards, and I hope Brisbane audiences enjoy what we're trying to express also.
By Danni Zuvela