Primary Panel

Intersection of gender studies and cinema studies in Indonesia.

This paper discusses women in the study of Indonesian cinema in four main topics. First, it provides an introduction about the importance of women as objects and subjects of the Indonesian cinema studies. The second provides the mapping of women’s representation in Indonesian cinema. The third provides the mapping of the study of female film workers. The fourth provides conclusions of exposure as well as notes on a disaggregated data project in the Indonesian film industry conducted by Kafein, Association of the Indonesian Film Scholars. The study also notes additional works for the future. The claim for a study of women’s representation should also be linked to other identities that are often attached to women, ethnicity, social group, religion, social class, disability and sexual preferences. The question about the agency of female film workers is not only addressed to those who become directors but also other film workers. Networks between women film workers at national and international levels also deserve to be a separate study in seeing their agencies to support each other. In addition, a historical approach should be used to explore the story of women film workers.

Keywords: Women, Indonesian cinema , representation, agency

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My presentation explores what we can do more in achieving gender equality in Indonesian cinema. While recognising the progress in terms of promoting women’s active participation in Indonesian cinema, especially behind the scene, we have to acknowledge that such quantitative indicator is not enough. While important, the increasing number of women in key positions behind the scene does not automatically translate to equal and non-discriminative representation of gender on screen, or to a more gender inclusive and safe film industry. I shall highlight that we need to mainstream gender perspectives in every level of the industry in order to achieve gender equality in Indonesian cinema. In doing so, I propose we make more concerted efforts in ensuring gender perspectives being mainstreamed in film education, both formal and informal. Doing so, we invest on the future women and men filmmakers for the sake of gender equal and inclusive Indonesian cinema.

Key words: gender mainstreaming, Indonesian cinema, film education, gender equality.

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It is not easy to try to change a patriarchal and sometimes repressive society, just like in the case of film and sexual violence. It is inevitable that sexual harassment happens often in the film industry, the problem is that not everyone wants to speak up. This is because of patriarchy, taboo norms on the issue of sexuality, as well as low education in society. This paper maps various sexual harassment and sexual violence among film industry workers and the film community based on surveys and interviews conducted by the author. Surely this research wants to find the root of the problem and to get the full impact with problem solving situations that must be faced by film workers with a gender perspective. There will be a lot of processes to go through, the recovery of victims is the most important in this paper. The feminist study and research do take a longer way to find the right mode to anticipate this issue. There is also a need to change the mindset and system that supports people who dare to speak out. A process towards change is not that easy. It is hoped that this paper can be a preliminary discussion and be reference for the emergence of public awareness about the issue of broader sexual violence in the art world.

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This study is an effort to develop Indonesian film Industry database to promote more gender equality-friendly policies and decision making. The data will be sorted by gender were captured from secondary sources, website and public domain catalogue from film organization, film schools, festivals, and professional organizations. Gender segregation determined by three frameworks; gender differences, access and changes from time to time. This study will identify potential problems and then decide the indicators to link available data to the problem of gender disparity. We formulate problems that include: the presence of women, the statistical changes on women’s position in film production, wage equality, level of education, gender equality in film stories, film schools, and opportunities for education / professional improvement. In the later stage, this study will present the percentage of women in each profession from year to year by category; feature films, short films, final assignment films, and documentaries. All categories are presented in graphical form per profession, total number of women, total number of films, and the comparison of women and men in numbers. In the next stage, this study will also find how women’s access to awards, funding opportunities, scholarships and other training.

Keyword : methodology, framework, gender-disaggregated data.

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Women are better filmmakers in my opinion. For some genres, women have more depth than men in visualizing or expressing audio-visual works. I have several experiences of working with women, and from the start, of making story ideas or scripts, women usually have a depth of things that can sometimes escape the attention of men. In my opinion, women are more detailed, more thorough, and what according to men as trivial, for women it can be something that needs more attention and must be worked out intensively. Because of that, their films have a deeper feeling. Film concerns the issue of feelings, and although maybe men are more suitable for certain genres, but for other genres, I feel that women are indeed better filmmakers. In fact, if we look at the film industries in the world, there are indeed more male filmmakers. Male actors are also appreciated with a higher salary than women. However, we have to realize, that women can provide more complete and deeper works, and offer more diverse feelings to the films they make.