Initial Judging Of FFWI XIII 2023 Takes Place Fiercely

FFWI XIII 2023 Jury (doc. Special)

JAKARTA - The initial stage judging of the 2023 Indonesian Journalist Film Festival (FFWI XIII) has ended. The Initial Jury, which consists of 21 journalists from arts, culture and films in several cities in Indonesia, gathered and conducted an assessment at the Mercure Hotel, Cikini, Jakarta, Wednesday, October 4, 2023. The Jury is working to determine the seeds who won the 2023 Gunungan Cup. The FFWI XIII judging plenary meeting facilitated by the Directorate of Film, Music and Media, Kemendibudristek took place online and offline.

Director of Judging Division of Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak explained that the judging process was divided into two stages. In the early stages, the Initial Jury sorted out 144 Indonesian film titles that had been shown in theaters and video services from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.

Furthermore, the judges selected a total of 78 film titles from four different genres; namely comedy, action, horror, and drama. From this list, the jury determines five seeds for nine elements of the film which are assessed by each genre.

"The plenary meeting lasted for eight hours, the judges were very careful in making their choices by filing sharp arguments and analysis to reach an agreement," explained the former Jakarta Post journalist.

In the final stage, continued Tertiani, the Final Jury will choose one winner from the flagship arrangement set by the Initial Jury. The seeded names will be announced online on October 14, and the awarding of the Gunungan Cup for winners will be held on October 27 at the H. Usmar Ismail Film Center Building (PPHUI) in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

The chairman of the Awal Jury, Miftahul Arifin, who was brought by the committee from Yogyakarta, said that in the plenary meeting it was conducive. It was quite exciting to cause a fierce debate but still in a positive and constructive atmosphere of emotion. Jury colleagues really helped me get a very valuable experience as Chair of the Initial Jury at a national-scale film festival.

"All members of the jury when they argue in assessing, and maintaining their opinions are not just judging or based on taste, but there are arguments that can be accounted for," explained Miftahul Arifin, an alumni of ISI Yogyakarta.