Indonesia triumphs at Venice film fest

The first was Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful “The Look of Silence”, his follow-up to the Indonesian genocide documentary “The Act of Killing”. Following a man as he confronts his brother’s killers, it will likely never been screened in Indonesia, but the fact that it was awarded the Grand Jury Prize is likely to put the country’s cinema in the spotlight.
The second was Sidi Saleh’s short “Maryam”, the first Indonesian film ever to win an award in Venice.
Saleh, winner of the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film, is a cinematographer who worked on “The Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly” and “Postcards from the Zoo”, both features by well-known art-house director Edwin. In “Maryam”, Saleh tells the story of a Muslim housemaid who comes under pressure when she is ordered to take her employer’s autistic son to church.
Saleh found time to sit down with us after the award presentation and talk about the film.

Why did you want to make “Maryam?”
I set out to make a trilogy of films on the theme of important Indonesian festivals. My first explored the New Year festival and the second looked at Hari Raya Idul Fitri. “Maryam” is about Christmas and I looked for a story that would illustrate the gap between the purported increase in tolerance levels between different peoples and the reality.

Did you expect “Maryam: to be this successful?
I submitted this film to another festival but it didn't get selected. That festival required that the length of the film be under 15 minutes, but the rough cut was longer so we tried to cut the film. It was eventually rejected so I checked it again and told my editor we should go back to the longer cut. Then I submitted it to Venice and I was amazed when it was selected.
 
How did you react when you learned you had won the award?
When they called my name, I walked to the stage in a daze and Ann Hui, the President of the Jury of Orizzonti section handed me the award. Only then did I realise it wasn’t a dream. I hope it will give me more opportunity to grow as a film director.

Will you screen this film in Indonesia soon?
After this, of course, because Venice is very important. The film has lot of attention right now. After the ceremony, my friends in Indonesia texted me. I got hundreds of notifications on Facebook.

Do you have a new project right now?
I have the idea but I haven’t written the synopsis. The film will be about happiness. A book I read recently about researchers who research happiness by interviewing villagers. My new film will start from this book.