Profile Of Imam Tantowi, Sineas Serba Can For Behind Screen Tasks

Imam Tantowi (screenshot)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) will be held on Wednesday, November 20 at ICE BSD. Every year, FFI gives awards to figures who are instrumental in the field of film.

This year, the Lifetime Achievement award was awarded to Imam Tantowi, a director and screenwriter who is active in Indonesian cinema. He also contributed to the television sector where he worked on various soap opera titles.

Imam Tantowi admitted that receiving this award was like waking up from a dream after decades of not getting into the world of Indonesian cinema.

"It's like I've been up from a dream after decades of no longer being in a movie. Switching to television since the first film dropped," said Imam Tantowi at ICE BSD, Tangerang, Wednesday, November 20.

Imam expressed his gratitude to the committee for giving the award, which was the last award of his life.

"Thank you to the committee for giving such an extraordinary award. This may be the last award in my life," said Imam Tantowi.

He continued that he never thought that there were still those who respected him as someone who had contributed to Indonesian cinema.

"Initially on television there were several times of directing. This is really extraordinary, very surprise. It turns out that there are still those who appreciate it," he said.

Check out Imam Tantowi's full profile below:

Imam Tantowi was born on August 13, 1946, a director and screenwriter. Before arriving at the highest career, Tanotwi had tried all the tasks behind the scenes. Almost all tasks can be done. He started his career by playing in 1966 before working on a film poster.

Then, he moved to Jakarta to develop his career in the film world. He had the opportunity to work on the film Let Musim Change in 1971 as a collaborator.

Two years later, he became an artistic arranger for the film Si Rano. He also briefly continued his studies in the cinematography section of the Education Bureau of Television Film Employee Organizations to develop his knowledge in the world of cinema.

In 1977, he was trusted to be an assistant director and work on the film Tukang Kawin to continue to Dang Ding Dong. In 1982, he officially became a director.

The man who was born in Tegal began to spread his wings to become a screenwriter. Ira Maya and Grandpa Ateng were the first films he wrote the scenario for.

Thanks to the screenwriter's career, Imam Tantowi won the FFI award for the best screenwriter. Some of the films are Si Badung, Soerabaia 45, and Bintang Film.

In the '90s, he started writing screenplays for television soap operas and also won. He managed to get the Vidia Cup as the best original storywriter at the 1995 Indonesian Soap Opera Festival for the Toxic Honey soap opera and Cassava Children.

A year passed, he won an award through the soap opera Traces of the Teacher. From the 1996 Indonesian Soap Opera Festival, he also won an award for the soap opera Husband-husband Fear of Wife. From this soap opera he also received an award as the best original storywriter of comedy.

In the 2000s, he still wrote several scenarios for soap operas, such as When Love satasbih, Porridge Maker Rides Hajj Series, 7 Tiger Humans, Celebs, Presidential Candidates, Wives of the End of Time, and He's Not Human in 2020.