Category: Cinema

Why did the independent Islamic film community fail in Indonesia?

Last year when I lived in Jakarta, I chased down people of the Indonesian film community – producers, directors, critics, scholars, festival organisers – to talk about the boom years of ‘Islamic cinema’ following the success of Ayat-ayat Cinta (2008, dir. Hanung Bramantyo). In the following interview, I spoke with the film scholar Katinka van… Continue reading Why did the independent Islamic film community fail in Indonesia?

Direct address in Asrul Sani’s Para Perintis Kemerdekaan

In my doctoral research on the poetics of Islam and gender in Indonesian cinema, I found a few inventive cinematic devices and techniques used in the Islamic film genre to achieve various desired effects. In the case of the Indonesian Islamic film, the main desired effect is the use of film as a medium for… Continue reading Direct address in Asrul Sani’s Para Perintis Kemerdekaan

Inter-religious Romance as Patina of Pluralist Harmony in Indonesian Cinema (an abstract)

I will be presenting a paper (titled above) taken from my doctoral research as part of the International Gender Studies Centre Trinity Term Seminar Series at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, on 16th May 2013. The theme of the seminar series is ‘Gender and Propaganda’ and I’ve somehow managed to design my paper in such a… Continue reading Inter-religious Romance as Patina of Pluralist Harmony in Indonesian Cinema (an abstract)

Life's unsavoury dish

Last night my boyfriend and I escaped the confines of our one-room flat to watch ‘Couscous‘ or ‘La graine et le mulet’. And I’m not sure I like it. It’s too much like life. Too real. For starters, it’s about Slimane who’s been laid off work after working 35 years making boats on the coast… Continue reading Life's unsavoury dish