Facts On The 71st Commemoration Of National Film Day, Indonesian Film Viewers Fall Free

Indonesian films are experiencing an audience crisis. (Photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting Indonesian films very hard. Filming was restricted, the cinema stopped operating, everyone who had been depending on their living from the film suddenly lost their support. National Film Day 2021 provides a reflection for Hanung Bramantyo.

"Reflections on a journey from film that turns out from time to time build a culture of shooting historical events. Generational events are formed from the beginning to the present. From there we can see that the film grows like a human being," said Hanung while talking with VOI some time ago.

The husband of Zakia Adya Mecca gave an example that films produced in 1950 compared to films that now appear have different technology, but have content that is not much different from human-to-other human relationships.

"National film day must be interpreted as a reflection, especially in the present year national films are really hit by a crisis. This is not the first crisis. We have experienced a crisis for years, from the crisis of the emptiness of national films in the 90s. Indonesian films fell. "To the abyss of image, eroticism sparks, until finally it turns into a golden era of film where one film can get 5-6 million viewers," he explained.

The COVID-19 pandemic has never been taken into account by Indonesian filmmakers. "From 2020, we are in a situation of extraordinary crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because there is an understanding that cinemas are a vulnerable place to be a place for the spread of the COVID-19 virus. That's why cinemas are closed. Now there are already several that open, but not 100 percent, there is a distance between one viewer and another. This is what made the film, which initially had more than 30 million viewers a year, now immediately drops to a maximum of only 500 thousand viewers, "he explained.

The facts on the ground are that the Indonesian film which reached the box office at this time, entitled Asih 2, only has 250,000 viewers. Even though the potential of this film can be 2 million viewers. "So the decline is almost 90%, that's why this filming day should be a deeper reflection. What is the meaning of Indonesian films for the Indonesian people? Is Indonesian films still important in our lives," he said.

What made Hanung feel cramped was that, during the pandemic, filmmakers felt very well that films were viewed as insignificant because both filming and film windows were closed. "The film is then packaged from the big screen into a cellphone screen. The film workers who usually can generate economic income for their families eventually become empty. And the attention of the government and society on films is not 100%. We see many film workers who have swerved to become culinary workers, delivery people. parcels, even though they are well-known great directors, I personally ended up unable to do anything about it. And I returned to the phase of making films with what we have with our cellphones and showing them on YouTube. This is the meaning of national film day with very deep reflections, "he explained