Catatan tentang “Citra dan Imajinasi – Perjalanan yang Berat di Cina”
Bertempat di Kineforum, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, salah satu rangkaian program ARKIPEL social/kapital – 4th Jakarta International Documentary & Experimental Film Festival, Asian Young Curator bertajuk “Citra dan Imajinasi – Perjalanan yang Berat di Cina” berlangsung pada 22 Agustus, 2016. Kurator program ini adalah Zimu Zhang, yang juga peneliti dan sutadara independen, serta kurator untuk China Independent Film Archive sejak 2015. Turut juga hadir Wang Bo, sutradara China Concerto (2012) yang juga seniman visual berbasis di New York. FIlem-filem yang ditayangkan mencoba mengungkap Cina, yang kini hidup dalam modernitas namun tak meninggalkan warisan komunis yang masih ditemui dalam aspek sosiokultural dan aspek-aspek lainnya.
Big Character (2015) karya Ju Anqi menunjukkan slogan-slogan raksasa dari periode Revolusi Kebudayaan di Gobi barat, Cina. Slogan-slogan seperti “Long Live Chariman Mao” dan ”Surmount Every Difficulty to Win Victory” awalnya digunakan sebagai penanda navigasi untuk bandara militer yang sakarang dapat ditemukan di Google Earth. Tiga ribu gambar dari negatif filem 35mm yang ditelantarkan di Beijing dibuat menjadi gambar bergerak oleh Lei Lei dalam Recycled 1920 (2013). Lei Lei menyelamatkan foto-foto analog ini sekaligus menghadirkan pengamatan yang dekat terhadap bahasa tubuh, ekspresi wajah, dan kehidupan pribadi serta publik penduduk Beijing yang berubah secara halus.
Zhang Zimu.
China Concerto (2012) karya Wang Bo, mengumpulkan dan menelisik spektakel dan citra, serta hubungan timbal-balik antara kedua faktor itu. Filem ini menarasikan dan mengomentari tiap detail saat masa “kampanye merah” sedang melanda. Wang Bo menceritakan, setelah masa reformasi ekonomi, masyarakat kehilangan pekerjaannya. Setimen-sentimen penyebab bencana ekonomi negeri ini bermunculan, dan menyalahi ekonomi pasar. Peristiwa ini menjadi faktor penting dalam perubahaan budaya dan ritual keseharian penduduk Cina, namun tetap tidak meninggalkan jejak politik yang pernah berjaya di sana.
BBR1 No. 1 of Blossom Bud Restrainer (2015) karya Liu Chuang mengisahkan produk-produk untuk meredam pertumbuhan tunas bunga pohon poplar sehingga untai bunga bisa dikendalikan. Menggunakan footage dari internet, Liu Chuang menunjukkan adegan palsu buatan manusia, sindrom “salju poplar”, yang dihasilkan dari rancangan sosialisme terpusat dengan manipulasi bahasa audiovisual. Magician Party and Dead Crow (2013) karya Sun Xun menjelajahi kesenjangan antara ingatan dan sejarah sambil menggambarkan partai politik idealis yang dipimpin oleh pesulap. Pesulap bertopi tinggi adalah sosok ikon berulang dalam karya Xun, menggambarkan sebagai “satu-satunya pembohong yang sah” dalam animasi 3D ini. Four Cowards (2011) karya Mai Mai mengambil footage dari wawancara televisi, dan menggabungkan potongan gambar-gambar sehar-hari dengan adegan fiksi. Kisah rumit jiwa-jiwa malang di metropolis dengan humor dan kepekaan mendalam diilustrasikan dalam filem ini.
Empat puluh penonton yang hadir dalam program ini hampir memenuhi seluruh kursi Kineforum. Tawa lepas penonton dapat didengar beberapa kali dalam adegan-adegan humor yang ditemui. Pada sesi diskusi, beberapa pertanyaan diajukan baik untuk Zimu Zhang dan Wang Bo. Masalah perizinan oleh pemerintah Cina tak luput disinggung. Zimu Zhang menjawab bahwa seringkali larangan diturunkan oleh aparat otoritas lokal. Ia harus mencari tempat-tempat privat, atau melaksanakannya di negara yang jauh lebih aman seperti Amerika atau negara-negara di Eropa. Pemerintah Cina juga tidak akan mungkin membantu dalam pengembangan bidang filem independen, tambahnya. Para pembuat filem harus bekerja di bidang lain untuk mendapatkan dana, seperti melakukan pekerjaan-pekerjaan komersial. Namun, untuk masalah pengambilan gambar di Cina, Wang Bo mangatakan regulasinya masih belum jelas, sehingga hal ini masih dapat dinegosiasikan dan bergantung pada bagaimana mempresentasikan dirinya di tempat publik untuk mendapatkan kualitas gambar yang jujur dan penuh makna.
“What you’re doing is a form of true love for your own country by giving this criticism,” puji Ruth Noack, salah satu kurator tamu sekaligus anggota juri di ARKIPEL social/kapital, yang turut hadir dalam program ini kepada Zimu Zhang dan Wang Bo di penghujung acara.
Notes on “Imagery and Imagination — Uneasy Trip to China”
Taking place in Kineforum, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, part of programs from ARKIPEL social/kapital – 4th Jakarta International Documentary & Experimental Film Festival, which is the Asian Young Curator “Imagery and imagination — Uneasy Trip to China” was held on August 22, 2016. The curator of this program is Zimu Zhang, who is an independent director and researcher, as well the curator for China Independent Film Archive since 2015. Wang Bo was also present, the director of China Concerto (2012) who is also a visual artist based in New York. Films were screened to try to uncover the Chinese, who now live in modernity, but do not leave a legacy of communism is still encountered in aspects of socio-cultural and other aspects.
Big Character (2015) by Ju Anqi showed the gigantic slogans from the period of the Cultural Revolution in West Gobi, China. Slogans such as “Long Live Chariman Mao” and “Surmount Every Difficulty to Win Victory” were originally used as a navigation sign for military airport which now can be found on Google Earth. Three thousand images from 35mm film negatives abandoned in Beijing made into a moving image by Lei Lei in Recycled 1920 (2013). Lei Lei who saved these analog photos, at the same time providing a close observation of the body language, facial expressions, and personal life as well as the public of Beijing who have changed subtly.
China Concerto (2012) by Wang Bo, collected and browsed for spectacle and imagery, as well as the interrelationships between these two factors. The film is narrated and commented on every detail when the red campaign was all around. Wang Bo shared a story, after a period of economic reformation, people lose their jobs. The sentiments over the economic disaster in this country had sprung up, and violated the economic market. This event is an important factor in the change of culture and rituals of everyday life of the Chinese population, but still does not leave a trail of politics who once triumphed there.
BBR1 No. 1 of Blossom Bud Restrainer (2015) by Liu Chuang told the product to reduce the growth of flower buds of poplar trees so flower strand can be controlled. Using footage from the Internet, Liu Chuang showed the fake scene of the man-made “snow poplar” syndrome, resulting from the design of centered socialism through manipulation of audiovisual language. Magician Party and Dead Crow (2013) by Sun Xun explored the gap between memory and history, describing the party political idealists led by a magician. Magician top hat is the iconic figure repeatedly in the works Xun, described as “the only legitimate liar” in this 3D animation. Four Cowards (2011) by Mai Mai took footage from television interviews, and combined pieces of everyday life pictures with fiction scene. Complex story of these poor souls in the metropolis with a humor and deep sensitivity was illustrated in this film.
Forty people who attended this program almost fill the entire seats of Kineforum. The audience laughter can be heard several times in the scenes where humor was encountered. In the discussion session, several questions were asked either to Zimu Zhang and Wang Bo. Licensing issues by the Chinese government did not escape to be mentioned. Zimu Zhang replied that the ban often being passed down by local authority officers. He had to find private places, or do it in a country that is much safer as the United States or countries in Europe. The Chinese government will also not be possible to help in the development of independent film field, he added. The filmmakers had to work in other fields to get funding, as do commercial jobs. However, for image-shooting issue in China, Wang Bo said that regulations are still unclear, so it can still be negotiated and depends on how to present oneself in a public place to get an honest picture quality and full of meaning.
“What you’re doing is a form of true love for your own country by giving this criticism, “said Ruth Noack, a speaker and a member of the international jury ARKIPEL who participated in this program to Zimu Zhang and Wang Bo at the end of the event.
