Bertemu Jean-Marie Teno dan Filemnya di ARKIPEL
Pemutaran filem-filem oleh Jean-Marie Teno menjadi salah satu sesi yang sudah saya tunggu-tunggu dan incar sejak awal penyelenggaraan ARKIPEL Penal Colony – 5th Jakarta International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, 2017. Sebab, selain saya berkesempatan untuk melihat filem-filem karya beliau, kali ini Jean-Marie Teno sendiri secara khusus didatangkan oleh tim ARKIPEL untuk ikut serta meramaikan serangkaian acara festival ARKIPEL. Venue untuk pemutaran sesi ini diselenggarakan di Kineforum, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta. Sesi pemutaran filem ini dilaksanakan pada pukul 16:00. Para pengunjung yang hadir pada saat itu segera diarahkan untuk menuliskan data di buku tamu yang telah disediakan panitia. Saya pun melihat suasana sudah cukup ramai sebelum pemutaran filem dimulai.
Saat dipersilakan masuk ke ruang pemutaran GoetheHaus, saya melihat para pengunjung beradu cepat untuk segera mengambil posisi tempat duduk yang nyaman, dan seketika ruang pemutaran pun sudah dipenuhi pengunjung hingga para panitia mengambil kursi tambahan yang ditempatkan di tangga tengah bioskop. Berdasarkan data dari buku tamu, terdapat 50 pengunjung yang meramaikan sesi pemutaraan ini. Kemudian seketika kata sambutan pun di sampaikan oleh Hafiz Rancajale, Direktur Artistik ARKIPEL yang secara khusus mengurasi program Presentasi Khusus Jean-Marie Teno ini. Si filmmaker sendiri juga diminta memberi kata sambutan dan perkenalan. Jean-Marie Teno sedikit menceritakan tentang latar belakang beliau dan perjalanan beliau sebagai seorang sutradara asal Kamerun. Beliau menceritakan bahwa karya-karya filem miliknya dibuat dengan pendekatan personal atas isu-isu identitas kultural yang terjadi di Afrika. Berkaitan dengan tema ARKIPEL, “Penal Colony”, Jean-Marie Teno memaparkan tentang karya filemnya yang menyoroti aspek kolonalisme yang selalu di-“representasikan” di negara-negara Afrika.
Jean-Marie Teno.
Oleh ARKIPEL, program pemutaran filem Jean-Marie Teno dibagi menjadi 2 sesi. Sesi kedua akan dilaksanakan tanggal 25 Agustus 2017, puku 16.30 di Kineforum, Jakarta. Pada sesi hari yang saya hadiri ini, filem yang akan diputarkan berjudul Afrique, Je Te Plumeria (atau Africa I Will Fleece You, 1992). Filem ini bercerita tentang Kamerun sebagai negara kelahiran Jean-Marie Teno yang selalu mengalami penindasan dan pengeksploitasian oleh kaum Eropa yang sudah menjadi warisan sejak pasca-kemerdekaan. Filem ini pun diawali dengan pembacaan puisi tentang Yaoundé (Ibukota Kamerun) yang menggambarkan situasi kejam atas kekerasan dan pembunuhan terhadap kaum muda yang menantang pemerintah yang diktator.
Melalui pergerakan plot cerita yang mencampurkan masa lalu dan masa kini, lapisan demi lapisan cerita dapat dihadirkan untuk mencari relevansi hubungan sebab-akibat antara pengalaman kolonial kemarin dan kekerasan dan korupsi hari ini. Filem ini menghadirkan pandangan kritis terhadap genosida budaya yang dihasilkan oleh masyarakat Kamerun yang menolak kolonialisasi oleh kaum Eropa. Baik di periode kolonial itu sendiri atau pasca-kemerdekaan, penindasan dan perlakuan tidak manusiawi masih dihadapkan pada masyarakat Kamerun. Warisan kolonialisme masih terpampang nyata di setiap sudut aspek di kota, mulai dari program televisi yang lebih mengutamakan program asing, minimnya literatur buku Afrika, hingga tak terlepas dari seniman lokal serta para penulis seperti Jean-Marie Teno yang menggantungkan hasil karyanya pada Prancis untuk publikasi filem.
Filem dengan durasi 88 menit itu berhasil mengangkat dan menceritakan kompleksitas yang muncul di Afrika. Bagi saya, Jean-Marie Teno telah berhasil menyajikan bagaimana kolonialisasi fisik hingga intelektual telah mengokupasi nilai-nilai peradaban di Afrika.
Tepuk tangan pengunjung pun mengakhiri pemutaran filem Afrique, Je Te Plumeria. Sesi tanya-jawab dilanjutkan untuk membuka ruang diskusi antara penonton dan Jean-Marie Teno. Pertanyaan pertama disampaikan oleh Hafiz Rancajale terkait dengan bagaimana Jean-Marie Teno mengkonstruksi filemnya dari rekaman-rekaman sejarah yang ada dengan narasi yang ia buat. Jean-Marie Teno kemudian memaparkan bahwa terdapat komplesitas yang muncul antara kejadian-kejadian yang ada di Afrika. Maka dari itu, ia menggunakan narasi untuk menghubungkan setiap kejadian-kejadian tersebut sehingga dapat dipaparkan relevansinya secara terperinci. Kemudian, lanjut ke pertanyaan kedua, yakni terkait tujuan apa yang Jean-Marie Teno inginkan dengan membingkai cerita tersebut. Si sutradara menjelaskan bahwa ia ingin sekali menggugah generasi muda untuk membuat perubahan agar tidak tertindas oleh pihak-pihak berkuasa.
Pertanyaan ketiga, ialah tentang relevansi antara masa lampau dan sekarang. Jean-Marie Teno menjelaskan bahwa tujuan dimunculkannya elemen masa lampau dan sekarang adalah untuk menyeimbangi relevansi dari setiap kejadian yang disunting ke dalam filem. Sedangkan pertanyaan terakhir, yang muncul dari Scott Miller Berry, ialah mengenai situasi filem dokumenter dan komunitas filem di Afrika itu sendiri. Jean-Marie Teno memaparkan bahwa, untuk saat ini, cukup ramai organisasi-organisasi filem di Afrika, namun masih ada kendala yang menghambat pekembangan dunia perfileman di Afrika itu, yakni masih adanya sifat skeptisisme terhadap filem-filem yang digarap oleh Afrika.
Sesi pemutaran filem bertema AFRIKA, AFRICA, AFRIQUE…! Akhirnya sampai di penghujung acara. Setelah para pengunjung keluar dari ruangan pemutaran, diskusi masih tampak asyik dan ramai di luar ruangan pemutaran. ***
Meeting Jean-Marie Teno and His Films in ARKIPEL
The screening of Jean-Marie Teno’s films was one of the sessions I have been waiting for since the beginning of ARKIPEL Penal Colony – 5th Jakarta International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, 2017. Because, aside of me having the opportunity to see his films, this time Jean-Marie Teno himself was especially in the screening to enliven ARKIPEL. The venue for this screening was held in Kineforum, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta. The screening was started at 16:00. The audiences who came at that time were immediately directed to fill the guest book provided by the committee. I also saw the atmosphere was quite crowded before the film screening started.
When I was allowed to enter the screening room of Kineforum, I saw the audiences raced to quickly took comfortable seats, and the screening room was already full of audiences until additional seats were placed on the aisle. Based on data from the guest book, there were 50 audiences who came to this session. Hafiz Rancajale, the Artistic Director of ARKIPEL who specifically curated this Special Presentation of Jean-Marie Teno, opened the screening. The filmmaker himself was also asked to give a brief speech and introduction. Jean-Marie Teno briefly talked about his background and journey as a director from Cameroon. He said that his works were made with personal approach to the issues of cultural identity occurred in Africa. Related to theme of ARKIPEL, “Penal Colony”, Jean-Marie Teno described his films which highlighted aspects of colonialism which were always “represented” in African countries.
Jean-Marie Teno.
By ARKIPEL, the program of Jean-Marie Teno’s film screening was divided into two. The second session would be held in August 25th 2017, at 16.30 in Kineforum, Jakarta. In the session I attended, the film was Afrique, Je Te Plumeria (or Africa I Will Fleece You, 1992). This film narrated the story of Cameroon, the birthplace of Jean-Marie Teno, which has always experienced oppression and exploitation by Europeans as the legacy since post-independence. The film was started with a poem reading, about Yaoundé (the capital of Cameroon), depicting a cruel situation of violence and murder of young people who challenge the dictatorial government.
Through the plot movement which mixed the stories of past and present, layer after layer of stories can be presented to find the relevance of causal relations between yesterday’s colonial experience and today’s violence and corruption. This film presented a critical view of the cultural genocide produced by the Cameroonian who rejected colonization by Europeans. Whether in the colonial period or post-independence, oppression and inhumane treatment have been confronting the people of Cameroon. The legacy of colonialism is still visible in every aspect of the city, from television programs that prioritize foreign programs, the lack of African literature books, to the practices of local artists and writers such as Jean-Marie Teno which are inseparable from France in terms of film publication.
This 88 minutes film has successfully narrated and raised the complexity existed in Africa. For me, Jean-Marie Teno has succeeded in presenting how the physical and intellectual colonialization has occupied the values of civilization in Africa.
The audiences’ applauses ended the screening of Afrique’s, Je Te Plumeria. A Q&A session was continued to open the space for discussion between the audience and Jean-Marie Teno. The first question was delivered by Hafiz Rancajale regarding how Jean-Marie Teno constructed his film from historical records with the narration he made. Jean-Marie Teno then explained that there is a complexity arises between the events exists in Africa. Therefore, he used narration to relate each of these events to expound its relevance in detail. Then, the second question, which was related to what goals Jean-Marie Teno wanted by framing that story. He explained that he is eager to inspire the younger generation to make changes and not to be oppressed by the powerful parties.
The third question was about the relevance between the past and the present. Jean-Marie Teno explained that the purpose of bringing up the elements of past and present was to balance the relevance of any event which was edited into the film. The final question, which emerged from Scott Miller Berry, was the situation of documentary film and film community in Africa itself. Jean-Marie Teno explained that, for now, there are quite a lot of film organizations in Africa, but there are still obstacles hindering the development of film in Africa, i.e the skepticism of the films worked on by Africa.
The screening of program AFRICA, AFRICA, AFRIQUE …! finally arrived to its end. After the audiences came out of the screening room, the discussion seems to still occurred outside the screening room. ***
