8/9 (fri), 19:30 ~ Uno Port Pier#2 Trailer Theater
Skype Q&A session (in process of finalizing the schedule) with Leonard Retel Helmrich after the screening
Direcor/Cinematographer: Leonard Retel Helmrich
Indonesia & The Netherlands/2010/Indonesian with English and Japanese subtitles/Color/111min
One family, three generations, facing globalisation in Indonesia
Twelve years ago, Dutch filmmaker Retel Helmrich decided to visit Indonesia, the birthplace of his Dutch father and Indonesian mother, looking for inspiration. The trip ignited his fascination with the country and he started filming the Shamshudin family living in a Jakarta slum. He followed them as the country shook off the rule of president Suharto (THE EYE OF THE DAY), experienced a rise of Islamic power (SHAPE OF THE MOON) and eventually nascent democracy, corruption and a widening income gap (POSITION AMONG THE STARS).
At the start of POSITION AMONG THE STARS, grandmother Rumidjah, openly Christian, has left the bustle of Jakarta to live in the countryside. But when her adolescent, smart Tari granddaughter turns out to be too much for her son Bakti to handle, Bakti asks his mother to return to the city’s slums to provide the girl with a sense of values and purpose in life. Tari is growing up in a time of increasing openness. The people around her are allowed, and even expected, to express their opinion about everything. Older people, accustomed to a more repressive society, are unfamiliar with democratic principles. Indonesia is experiencing the growing pains of a Western-style generation gap, a new phenomenon in the Muslim country. The entire family sees in the intelligent Tari a chance to raise their status and escape the slums of Jakarta. Especially Bakti has high hopes for her since she is like a daughter to him. His job as neighborhood watchman doesn’t pay well, so he tries to earn some extra money by breeding fighting fish for gambling purposes. Rumidjah is pressuring Tari to finish school with honors and be the first in their family to go to university. However Tari wants what all teenagers do – mobile phone, fun with friends. Meanwhile Bakti and his wife are not getting along very well. She becomes increasingly exasperated by his laid-back ways, his collection of fighting fish and lack of attention to her. Although her family works themselves to the bone to contribute to the tuition fee of her university, Tari prefers to spend her time and money with her friends in the nightlife of Jakarta.
This modest and simple family seems at ease with Leonard Retel Helmrich’s presence, who records their everyday real life situations with impressive detail, using his proprietary Single Shot Cinema method to bring moment of charm and compassion into their family tale. Together with Jasper Naaijkens he edited POSITION AMONG THE STARS as part of Harvard’s Radcliffe fellowship this past academic year (2009-2010). POSITION AMONG THE STARS is also very much a family affair behind the camera. The director’s sister Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich produced all of his films and her son Jasper was responsible for editing POSITION AMONG THE STARS. www.positionamongthestars.com
Director / Director of photography – Leonard Retel Helmrich
Leonard Retel Helmrich has won many international awards for his documentaries PROMISED PARADISE, THE EYE OF THE DAY and SHAPE OF THE MOON. He also worked as a director of photography on the documentary BURNING SEASON (Australia) and the feature film BEAUTIFUL CRAZY (Taiwan). This past academic year (2009-2010) he worked with Jasper Naaijkens on the editing of POSITION AMONG THE STARS as a Radcliffe fellow at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. He also delivered guest lectures at Harvard, CalArts, MASSArts and Suffolk University. Retel Helmrich conducted workshops on his ‘Single Shot Cinema’ method at film schools and universities in the US, Australia, South Africa, Asia and Europe. Many international film festivals (including Nyon, Montreal) have dedicated retrospectives to his work. Former Nyon president Jean Perret commented that “Leonard Retel Helmrich is one of the most refreshing and creative filmmakers based in the Netherlands.”
Biography
Leonard Retel Helmrich was born in Tilburg in 1959, after his family had moved from Bandung, Indonesia to the Netherlands. He graduated from the Dutch Film and Television Academy in 1986 in feature film directing, screenwriting and editing. His debut feature was THE PHOENIX MYSTERY. His first documentary MOVING OBJECTS (1991) won several awards at international festivals.
Indonesian trilogy
Twelve years ago, Retel Helmrich decided to visit Indonesia, where his Dutch father and Indonesian mother were born, in search of inspiration. The country fascinated him to such an extent that it became the subject of many of his documentaries. The Single Shot Cinema method he developed allowed audiences all over the world to experience the profound changes in this complex, yet wonderful country. Retel Helmrich’s Indonesian trilogy has become his tour de force, including the feature-length documentaries THE EYE OF THE DAY, SHAPE OF THE MOON and POSITION AMONG THE STARS, in which he follows the Shamsuddin family trying to survive as their country faces the increasing power of Islam over its every day lives, nascent democracy, and widening income and generation gaps.
SELECTED WORKS
• PROMISED PARADISE (2006)
• SHAPE OF THE MOON (2004)
• FLIGHT FROM HEAVEN (2003)
• THE EYE OF THE DAY (2001)
• MOVING OBJECTS (1991)
• THE PHOENIX MYSTERY (1990)
more info: www.singleshotcinema.com
* Sundance World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Best documentary (USA) *
* IDFA Award best feature length Documentary (NL) *
* IDFA Dioraphte Award Dutch documentary 2010 (NL) *
* Grand jury Award Albafilmfestival (It) *
* Special jury prize Sarasota, USA *
* Zagrebdox Award Best Film International Competition (Kroatië) *
* Christal Film Award (NL) *
* Silverdocs Washington Special jury mention 2011 (USA) *
* Best documentary Durban International filmfestival 2011 (S-Africa) *
The screening of this film became possible with a contribution from Ms. Asako Fujioka. Thank you, Asako-san. Subtitled film was provided by Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.