CATATAN TENTANG PRESENTASI KHUSUS CFMDC
Presentasi Spesial CFMDC: Mendiskusikan Penolakan Status Quo dan Elemen Alam
Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Center (CFMDC) adalah lembaga non-profit yang didirikan pada tahun 1967, yang menyediakan ruang berkarya dan jalur distribusi bagi filem-filem seni independen di Kanada. Dalam rangkaian ARKIPEL homoludens – 6th Jakarta Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, lembaga ini berkesempatan mempresentasikan beberapa karya pembuat filem dan seniman Kanada yang mereka distribusikan. Presentasi spesial ini dibagi ke dalam dua sesi, yaitu Jumat (10/08) pukul 19.00, dan Sabtu (11/08) pukul 13.00. Keduanya ditayangkan di Kineforum, Taman Ismail Marzuki. Dalam kedua sesi itu, Lauren Howes, Direktur Eksekutif CFMDC turut hadir menyajikan filem-filem dalam presentasi khusus ini.
Sesi pertama yang dihadiri 13 penonton menayangkan filem Metamorphosis karya Barry Greenwald, Ten Cents a Dance (Parallax) karya Midi Onodera, dan P4W: Prison for Women karya Holly Dale dan Janis Cole. Keempat filem tersebut dibingkai melalui perspektif yang menolak status quo yang dimapankan dalam keseharian. Hal ini merujuk pada saat filem-filem tersebut diproduksi, yakni tahun 1975 – 1985, di mana mereka juga berdiri sebagai komentar sosial terhadap masyarakat Kanada masa itu yang cenderung konformis. Ini juga berhubungan dengan penjabaran Lauren dalam sesi tanya-jawab, bahwa pada masa itu, lembaga sensor mengontrol peredaran filem dengan ketat.
Filem Metamorphosis menampilkan surealitas usaha seorang pria dalam menyiasati kesehariannya yang repetitif. Dalam sebuah elevator, waktu seakan “dibengkokkan” dalam usahanya mencari solusi kebosanan hidupnya. Diproduksi tahun 1975, filem ini menunjukkan penggunaan teknik stop motion yang menarik dan cukup canggih dengan medium seluloid. Kecanggihan juga tampil dalam penggunaan dua bingkai dalam filem di Ten Cents a Dance di mana secara visual menampilkan kesendirian dua orang yang merindukan sebentuk hubungan intim, baik itu kedekatan emosional maupun seksual. Tiga bagian filem tersebut menayangkan beragam situasi di mana hasrat seksual para tokoh diekspresikan secara sembunyi-sembunyi. Terakhir, P4W mendokumentasikan kondisi lima tokoh yang ditahan dalam fasilitas penjara perempuan satu-satunya di Kanada. Meskipun penjara tersebut tampaknya jauh dari gambaran penjara di filem Hollywood di mana pada filem ini para napi terlihat boleh memakai baju bebas, mendekorasi kamar, dan bebas keluar-masuk sel dan bersosialisasi dalam ruang bersama, namun penjara tetap penjara. Filem tersebut menggambarkan harapan dan kegelisahan mereka, sekaligus dengan halus mengkritik institusi dan sistem hukum yang tak selalu adil kepada warga negaranya.
Di penghujung penayangan, dua orang bertanya pada sesi tanya-jawab. Seorang wanita yang tak menyebutkan namanya ingin tahu bagaimana kelanjutan penjara tersebut setelah filem itu dirilis. Menurut Lauren, film tersebut terkenal kontroversial karena kritiknya terhadap pemerintah, sebagai dampaknya, perizinan untuk membuat filem di penjara menjadi semakin sulit. Karena dikritik berbagai pihak, penjara tersebut akhirnya ditutup di tahun 1990-an dan digantikan oleh institusi-institusi yang lebih baik yang tersebar di berbagai wilayah di Kanada. Penanya kedua adalah saya sendiri, bagaimana filem-filem yang diproduksi di tahun 1970-an dan 1980-an ini mempengaruhi filem independen Kanada yang diproduksi pada saat ini? Lauren menjelaskan bahwa di masa kini Midi Onodera masih berkarya, bahkan telah memperoleh penghargaan khusus dari pemerintah Kanada. Sementara Holly Dale kini berkarir di televisi komersial, berpisah jalan dari rekannya, Janis Cole. Lauren menekankan dua filem terakhir yang disutradarai oleh perempuan yang mengidentifikasikan diri mereka tanpa gender, dan bagaimana mereka muncul di tengah ranah filem independen yang dipenuhi laki-laki. P4W juga cukup berpengaruh dalam gaya filem-filem dokumenter selanjutnya.
Filem-filem di sesi selanjutnya, yang saya harap dapat menjawab pertanyaan saya lebih lanjut, adalah karya CFMDC kontemporer yang diproduksi tahun 2005 dan sesudahnya, kecuali film Sailboat. Dalam penayangan selanjutnya yang dihadiri 12 penonton, ditayangkan sembilan filem, yakni The Earth in The Sea karya Barbara Sternberg, Sumi (Heart) karya Jaene Castrillon, 165708 karya Josephine Massarella, Flash Flood karya Alli MacKay, Not Waving but Drowning karya Lindsay McIntyre, Aturquesada karya SoJin Chun, Pierre Radisson: Fjord and Gulf karya Ben Donoghue, Sailboat karya Joyce Wieland, dan The Occupant karya Elise Simard. Benang merah yang menghubungkan karya-karya ini pun jauh berbeda dari sesi sebelumnya, yaitu perihal elemen-elemen alam dan bagaimana manusia berinteraksi dengan lingkungannya.
Selain elemen alam, elemen material filem itu sendiri juga menjadi penting di sini, karena mayoritas film diproduksi menggunakan seluloid. Bahkan dalam beberapa film seperti The Earth in The Sea, 165708, Not Waving but Drowning, dan Aturquesada, eksperimentasi lebih jauh dilakukan di atas meja penyuntingan menggunakan efek seperti double exposure, fast cut, maupun stop motion. Batas kemampuan seniman dalam berkarya juga diuji melalui pembuatan filem Fjord and Gulf, dokumentasi keseharian kapal pemecah es di Kanada direkam menggunakan 16mm dengan segala tantangannya di tengah-tengah musim dingin Kanada yang mengigit.
Menarik untuk mengobservasi alam dan hubungan manusia-alam, sebagaimana digambarkan manusia sendiri melalui medium filem. Salah satunya The Earth in The Sea, yang menggambarkan sifat holistik dari alam itu sendiri, di mana setiap elemennya (air, api, tanah, dan udara) dapat saling berhubungan. Alam juga dapat dimaknai sebagai metafora atas identitas yang cair maupun duka yang menenggelamkan dalam Not Waving but Drowning dan Flash Flood. Di antara semua filem pendek, Fjord and Gulf menonjol dengan durasinya selama 80 menit, menggambarkan “invasi” manusia ke dalam alam melalui gambar kapal pemecah es yang gigantis, sekaligus juga keadaan alam yang membuat awak-awak kapalnya harus bekerja di tengah musim dingin. Filem ini menggunakan banyak shot panjang, sehingga beberapa penonton yang tak terbiasa akan butuh stamina dan konsentrasi yang lebih. Selama filem itu diputar, sejumlah penonton tampak berjalan keluar dari bioskop, bahkan saya mencatat dua orang penonton tertidur di deretan kursi paling belakang. Namun, sepertinya demikianlah lika-liku penayangan filem eksperimental.
Di akhir penayangan, lagi-lagi ada dua penanya. Penanya pertama, Andra, volunteer Hospitality di ARKIPEL, menanyakan gambaran air dalam filem Flash Flood sebagai metafora atas seksualitas dan gender yang cair. Lauren pun menceritakan proses di balik filem tersebut, yang merupakan karya kolaboratif sejumlah seniman dan animator. Penanya selanjutnya, lagi-lagi saya, mempertanyakan bagaimana kekhasan Kanada muncul dalam gagasan alam dan hubungannya dengan manusia yang diangkat dalam kuratorial filem-filem ini. Lauren merujuk kepada film Fjord and Gulf, salah satu filem yang menurutnya sangat khas Kanada, tak hanya mempersoalkan alamnya, namun juga kondisi kerja pegawainya.
NOTES ON CFMDC SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Discussing The Refusal of Status Quo and Elements of Nature
Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Center (CFMDC) is a non-profit institution founded in 1967 that provides a creative space and distribution channel for independent art filmmakers in Canada. In the ARKIPEL homoludens – 6th Jakarta Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, CFMDC present the works of Canadian artists and filmmakers they work with. This special presentation was divided into two sessions: on Friday (08/10) 07.00 PM, and Saturday (08/11) at 01.00 PM. Both screenings took place in Kineforum, Taman Ismail Marzuki. Lauren Howes, the executive director of CFMDC, were present in both sessions to present the films.
13 audiences attended the first session, showing Metamorphosis by Barry Greenwald, Ten Cents a Dance (Parallax) by Midi Onodera, and P4W: Prison for Women by Holly Dale and Janis Cole. The three films were seen from the perspective that rejects the status quo established throughout our daily life. It refers to the 1975 – 1985 era when those films were produced in which they also stood as a social commentary on the conformity of Canadian society at that time. This is also related to Lauren’s explanation on the strict censorship on films around that time.
Metamorphosis displayed the surreality of a man’s attempt at getting around his mundane daily life. Inside a lift, it was as if time was bent on his struggle to fix his boredom. Produced in 1975, this film exhibits a sophisticated use of the stop-motion technique through the medium of celluloid. Technological advancement was also displayed at the usage of the two frames on Ten Cents a Dance, a visual storytelling on the loneliness of two people yearning for an intimate relationship; be it emotional or sexual connection. The film was divided into three parts, showing various situations where the characters expressed their desire behind the closed doors. Last but not least, P4W documented the daily lives of five women who were detained in the women prison facility in Canada. Even though the jail seems far better from the depiction of jail in Hollywood movies, in which the inhabitants could wear their clothes, were allowed to decorate their rooms, and free to wander off the halls and socialised in a shared place, but a prison is a prison. The film portrays their hopes and worries, while also criticising governmental institutions that do not always do its citizens justice.
At the question and answer session, two people raised their hands. A woman who did not give her name wanted to know the condition of the jail after the film was released. According to Lauren, the film was known to be controversial because of its critique of the government, and as the impact, it became harder to get permission to publish or film anything about the prison. After many critiques on the system of the facility, it was closed in the 1990’s and replaced by better institutions spread all over the country. The second person was I who asked about how the films produced between the 1970’s and the 1980’s influences the current Canadian independent films. She explained that Midi Onodera is still productive to this day; she even received a special award from the government. Meanwhile, Holly Dale is more active in the commercial television nowadays and has a separate path from her co-director Janis Cole. Lauren underlined the last two films directed by women who identified themselves as non-gender and the fact that they emerged in the time when men dominated the independent film scene. P4W was very influential for documentary film’s style after it.
The next films, which I had hoped to answer my previous question further, are contemporary works of CFMDC produced after 2004, except for Sailboat. In the next screening, attended by 12 people, nine films were screened: The Earth in The Sea by Barbara Sternberg, Sumi (Heart) by Jaene Castrillon, 165708 by Josephine Massarella, Flash Flood by Alli MacKay, Not Waving but Drowning by Lindsay McIntyre, Aturquesada by SoJin Chun, Pierre Radisson: Fjord and Gulf by Ben Donoghue, Sailboat by Joyce Wieland, and The Occupant by Elise Simard. The red thread between these works are far more different than earlier session: these works discuss the elements of nature and how human interacts with their environment.
Aside from the elements of nature, the elements of the material itself become important here, because the majority of films were shot on celluloid. Even on The Earth in The Sea, 165708, Not Waving but Drowning, dan Aturquesada, further possibilities were tested on the editing table using effects such as double exposure, fast cut, or stop-motion. The limits of endurance were also tested through the making of Fjord and Gulf, a documentation of the life on the ice breaker ship in Canada, which was shot on 16mm and faced many challenges in the middle of the Canadian winter.
It is interesting to observe the nature and its relationship with human depicted by human themselves through the medium of film. One of the films, The Earth in The Sea, portrayed elements of nature in a holistic connection with each other. The nature can also be read as a metaphor as a fluid identity (Flash Flood) or a sorrow that drowns (Not Waving but Drowning). Among all other short films, Fjord and Gulf stands out with its 80-minute duration, portraying the penetration of humans into nature through the image of a gigantic ice breaker ship, while also talking about the state of nature that forces the ship’s crews to work in the middle of the winter. The amount of long shots used throughout the film pushed the audience’s stamina and concentration to their limits. During the film, few audiences walked out of the theatre, I even noted two people who fell asleep on the back row. But then, it is a classic struggle of an experimental film screening.
At the end of the screening, there were two people who wanted to ask their questions. The first person, Andra, a Hospitality volunteer in ARKIPEL, wanted to confirm whether the image of water on Flash Flood can be read as a metaphor as the fluidity of sexuality and gender. Lauren agreed to her interpretation, telling the story behind the film, on how the filmmakers and animators collaborated. The second person, again, was me, questioning how significant nature and its relationship to human, to the characteristic of Canadian cinema in general. Lauren then referred to Fjord and Gulf, the film that she thought was very Canadian, not only through how it relates to the state of nature but the condition of the labours and other things.
