Kompetisi Internasional 02: Mencatat Ulang dengan Puitik – Sinema, Rol Film, dan Cinta
26 November 2022, pukul 16:20. Matahari berangsur-angsur turun dari ufuk. Suasana yang tepat buat menayangkan dua filem dokumenter eksperimental yang dibentuk dari kumpulan arsip dan rekaman, dan melibatkan kemelut hidup dua insan yang berkecimpung dalam perfilman, yang satu seorang mahasiswi perfilman, dan yang satunya lagi produser veteran. Penayangan bertempat di “bioskop mini” Forum Lenteng, sebuah ruangan bernuansa nyaman berlantai lapisan kayu, dengan tembok berlapis busa akustik.
Penayangan kedua filem dipandu oleh Luthfan Nur Rochman, kurator dan produser filem yang telah memproduksi beberapa judul. Beliau membuka penayangan filem dengan penjelasan singkat terkait tema dan konteks yang melatarbelakangi masing-masing filem. Turut hadir dalam perhelatan sore itu Otty Widasari, seniman yang berkecimpung dalam berbagai macam seni visual termasuk perfilman; Ding Dawei, anggota juri ARKIPEL dan direktur festival Beijing International Short Film Festival; dan Abhishek “Abhi” Nilamber, peneliti dan kurator di SAVVY Contemporary.
Berlatar di tengah demonstrasi kampus di Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) dan kampus-kampus lainnya pada tahun 2015, A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021, Payal Kapadia), pemenang Cannes 2021, menjalin ragam tema dan emosi: perjuangan mahasiswa India dan kaum termarjinalkan membela hak mereka, intrik-intrik perpolitikan India, dan pergolakan dalam kalbu L: cinta, gundah, bimbang, membentuk campuran yang agak membingungkan – bisa jadi tercermin dalam judul filem (saduran dalam bahasa Indonesia: “Semalam Tak Menahu”).
Yang menonjol bagi saya adalah tegangan tak terucapkan antara dua suara yang hadir dalam filem: antara suara buku harian L yang menjadi narasi sepanjang filem; dan visual di layar, perspektif seorang dokumentaris yang memandang dunia melalui pembesaran dan pengecilan lensa, menelisik kehidupan, peristiwa, dan insiden–pada saat yang sama saling mendekat namun juga saling menjauh, namun tetap menjadi dua entitas yang terpisah.
A Night of Knowing Nothing adalah filem yang indah dan memprovokasi, dan pada titik tertentu, mengganggu: bagi orang di luar India, filem ini memberikan gambaran sekilas aspek masyarakat India yang kurang gemilang, dan bagi pelajar di seluruh dunia, filem ini mengundang solidaritas.
Filem kedua, Outtakes (Descartes) (2021, Concha Barquero, Alejandro Alvarado), jauh lebih pendek dari segi durasi dan isi. Filem tersebut menampilkan kembali potongan-potongan yang disingkirkan dari filem dokumenter berjudul Rocío, filem dokumenter 1980 karya Fernando Ruiz Vergara yang sempat disensor habis-habisan pada zaman pasca rezim Franco di Spanyol karena menyinggung korban represi zaman rezim. Tanpa demonstrasi maupun pembubaran paksa, penonton diberi kebebasan untuk menafsirkan sendiri gambar-gambar, klip, dan transkrip sidang penyensoran filem (yang dibacakan oleh seorang narator).
Penayangan filem Outtakes diteruskan dengan intermezzo singkat. Sambil menikmati makan malam dan kudapan para pemirsa saling bercengkerama dan berbincang, bahkan di salah satu meja berlangsung diskusi cukup hangat tentang politik. Tampaknya penampilan film A Night of Knowing Nothing berhasil tujuan yang sepertinya dimaksudkan produksi filem.
International Competition 02: Poetic Recollections – Cinema, Reels, and Love
26 November 2022, 4:20 PM. The steadily receding sunlight provides a suitable backdrop for the screening of two films of the experimental-documentary genre composed of archives and recordings, involving, to differing extents, the trials and tribulations of two people involved in the production of films: one a film student, the other a veteran producer. This afternoon’s screening, like the rest of ARKIPEL 2022, took place in Forum Lenteng’s “mini theatre”, a cosy room with wooden linings and walls lined with acoustic foam.
The screening was hosted by Luthfan Nur Rochman, film curator and producer with several titles to his name, who opened the screening with a brief description of the themes conveyed by each film and the contexts they are grounded in. Also present were Otty Widasari, an artist specialising in diverse forms of the visual arts including the cinema; Ding Dawei, ARKIPEL jury member and festival director of Beijing International Short Film Festival; and Abhishek “Abhi” Nilamber, a researcher and curator at SAVVY Contemporary.
Set amidst the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) protests in 2015 and subsequent protests in other campuses, A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021, Payal Kapadia), a Cannes 2021 awardee, weaves together many themes and emotions: the struggle of Indian students and the marginalised for their rights, the intrigues behind Indian politics, and L’s feelings of love, exasperation, and restlessness, to produce a bewildering mélange – one that is, in a way, foretold in the title of the film.
What strikes me is the ever unspoken tension between the two voices present in the film: the voice of L’s diary, which serves as narration throughout the film; and the visuals, a documentarian’s view of the world through lenses zooming in and out of lives, events, incidents – both constantly converging and diverging, while remaining strictly distinct entities.
A Night of Knowing Nothing is beautiful as it is provoking and, to some extent, disturbing: to the outsider it provides a glimpse of the less savoury aspects of Indian society, and to students all over the world it invites solidarity
The second film, Outtakes (Descartes) (2021, Concha Barquero, Alejandro Alvarado), was considerably shorter in length and content. The film brings reels cut off from 1980 documentary Rocío which was heavily censored in post-Francoist Spain due to its coverage of victims of the Francoist repressions, back to life. No hartals, no lathi charges – the producers let the reels and lines of court proceedings recited by a narrator speak for themselves, opening themselves up for interpretation by each member of the audience.
The screening of Outtakes was followed by a brief interlude preceding the next screening of the day. Members of the audience made use of the opportunity to enjoy refreshments, acquaint themselves with their fellow viewers, and take part in discussions: there was a lively discussion on politics at one of the tables. It seems A Night of Knowing Nothing has achieved one of the effects its production has intended.
