Contemporary Indonesian film: spirits of reform and ghosts from the past

Contemporary Indonesian film: spirits of reform and ghosts from the past

Heeren, C.Q. van

Citation

Heeren, C. Q. van. (2009, June 9). Contemporary Indonesian film: spirits of reform and ghosts from the past. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13830

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License: Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden

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Contemporary Indonesian film:

Spirits of Reform and ghosts from the past

Katinka van Heeren

III

Contemporary Indonesian film:

Spirits of Reform and ghosts from the past

Proefschrift

ter verkrijging van

de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden,

op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof.mr. P.F. van der Heijden,

volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties

te verdedigen op dinsdag 9 juni 2009

klokke 16.15 uur

door

Catherine Quirine van Heeren Geboren te Jakarta

in 1973

IV

Promotiecommissie

Promotor: Prof. dr. B. Arps

Referent: Prof. dr. H. Schulte Nordholt

Leden: Prof. dr. K. van Dijk

Prof. dr. B. Meyer

Prof. dr. P. Nas Prof. dr. I. Smits Prof. dr. P. Spyer

.

The research for this dissertation was carried out under the auspices of the Indonesian Mediations Project, part of the Indonesia in Transition programme (2001-2005), funded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). I would like to thank the School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for their financial support.

V

There are so many people both in my professional and personal life who have contributed to my thesis that the list is too long to mention them separately. I owe them my sincerest gratitude. In particular, I am indebted to all the persons in the Indonesian film scene who deserve tribute for their support. A special word of thanks is appropriate to the filmmakers for allowing me to use their work in the DVD as a part of this thesis.

Contents

VIII

Contents

Introduction 1

Part One: Film mediation practices

1. New Order and surface

Introduction 13 1.1. Production: The attempt to produce Provokator the New Order way 14 1.2. Distribution and Exhibition: Trade and charade in cinemas

and film formats 18

1.3. Exhibition and consumption: Film festivals as forums for national

imaginations and representation 24

Conclusion 29

2. Reformasi and underground

Introduction 31 2.1. Reformation in film production: Kuldesak and film independen 32

2.2. Distribution and exhibition of new media formats: ‘Local’ Beth versus

‘transnational’ Jelangkung 39

2.3. Alternative sites of film consumption: Additional identifications and modes

of resistance 45

Conclusion 53

Part Two: Film discourse practices

3. Histories, heroes, and monumental frameworks

Introduction 57 3.1. Film history: New Order patronage of film perjuangan and film pembangunan 57 3.2. Film and historiography: Promotion and representations of New Order history 62 3.3. ‘Film in the framework of’: G30S/PKI and Hapsak 68 Conclusion 73

IX

4. Post-colonial histories, common people, and commercial frameworks

Introduction 75 4.1. Counter-history: Changes and continuities in Post-Soeharto

modes of engagement 75

4.2. Post-colonial histories and identities; film Islami 81 4.3. Film in the framework of Ramadan 86 Conclusion 91

Part Three: Film narrative practices

5.

Introduction 95 5.1. Horror films under the New Order: Comedy, sex, and religion 96 5.2. Horror films for television: New narratives and debates on their bounds 99 5.3. Horror films for cinema and television: Developments of Reformasi 103 Conclusion 109

6. The celebrity kyai and phantoms of the past: Tussling with the bounds of Indonesian moralities, realities, and popularities

Introduction 111 6.1. The ban on Kiss Me Quick!: The kyai, the foreigner, and Indonesia’s morality 113 6.2. Censorship from the street: The authority of religion 119 6.3. The Post-Soeharto dispute over censorship: Spirits of Reform and ghosts

from the past 124

Conclusion 129

Conclusion 133

Bibliography 147

Notes 179

X

Nederlandse samenvatting 195

Curriculum Vitae 200