Lawuh Boled and the Picture of a Real-Life Class Struggle

A short film is a form of medium that is honest; with its time limit, it gives the filmmaker freedom and creativity to turn it into something according to what they wish and what they have meant in the first place directly. Since it has less interventions if compared with feature films where there are more investors and parties included in the making, short films are able to bring out the message that the filmmakers would like to point out with the most suitable form for both the audience and the filmmaker.  In this essay, I would like to bring out how a short film is able to bring out the issues of class struggle and the abuse of power within the authority of the society. Here, I am going to use the film Lawuh Boled (Misyatun, 2012) as my study case. I will also point out the political and economic relationship of the film with the society in which Lawuh Boled portrays and how this film points them out.

Cassava, Structural Poverty and the Abuse of Power

"Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton

Lawuh Boled (English: Side Dish: Cassava) is a film made by a group of students from SMK Negeri 1 Rembang, Purbalingga, Central Java. It tells about Sutimah, an illiterate woman who was not able to get her raskin or beras miskin (the rice for poor people provided by the Government) since she took the wrong coupon with someone else's name written on it. Her Pak RT (neighborhood leader) did not help her in getting the right coupon because he was busy with his own personal phone call while Sutimah asked for his assistance. Because of this, Sutimah could not provide her daughter rice for that day's food and must stick with boiled cassava. 

Behind the scenes of Lawuh Boled. 

Bowo Leksono, the Founding Father of Cinema Lovers Community (CLC), a film community in Purbalingga in which Misyatun and her friends got their film education, pointed out why cassava is chosen as the side dish. "Simply because it's the cheapest food. In Java, it is how the identity is pointed out: when you eat cassava, then you are poor," he said, in an interview with detikHOT during the South to South Film Festival Awarding Night. Misyatun, the director and producer of the film, also pointed out that this film is related very much with her real life experience. "My mother's name is Sutimah, and once she was not able to get her raskin because she was illiterate and not being helped by her Pak RT to get the right coupon. The people at the Balai Desa (Village Hall) also did not help her with her situation, although actually they could, if they would."

From the explanation above, I can tell directly that this is a problem of the abuse of power by the authority, which brings unfortunate circumstances to the people. The word power itself is derived from the Latin word potere, which means "to be able". Power itself is described as being able to achieve what one desires using the physical, intellectual or even the combination of both forces. The source of power varies from wealth, position, knowledge, skills, expertise and information. In the film Lawuh Boled, the Pak RT who has power abused his power for his own benefits, leaving Sutimah with the consequence of not getting the rice that should have been hers. 

Lawuh Boled winning Best Short Film at the South to South Film Festival 2014.

Bowo admitted that the problem in which Lawuh Boled portrays is the problem that is very much related with political issue. In an interview with Windu Jusuf from Cinema Poetica, an Indonesian website that discusses critical thoughts on world cinema and film culture, Bowo explained on why many of CLC films are about politics. "I always give them freedom in making whatever they want. But when they come to me and talk about their ideas, then they are able to connect their stories with the social contexts. When you talk about poverty, you talk about politics: why are people poor? This is not about fate. They must be able to answer the question. There will be a long discussion. Okay, so poverty happens because of corruption and so on and so forth. They got this conclusion after they directly get in touch with the society." Research and downfield are the keys on doing so. CLC also believes that through film screenings, and not just filmmaking, people are able to get their political education. 

Lawuh Boled brings out the point of structural poverty, where, exactly like what Bowo said, poverty happens not because of fate but because the wrack of the system. This is a very simple yet close-with-real-life-experience example of authoritarians who abuse their power in the lowest level, which is the RT or the neighborhood. This problem then points out a question that can kick all people in the Government: how is it possible that our whole Government can govern the people well and clean, when the lowest level of the Government itself is already dilapidated? Just because of this simple action of Pak RT not assisting Sutimah to get the right coupon and instead is busy with his personal phone call, a family is not being able to get their right for rice and must stick with cassava instead, the cheapest food that even symbols poverty. This clearly shows structural poverty, where the happening of the poverty itself is much supported by the dilapidated system of the Government, in this case one person who abuses his power for his own benefit.

This film is so powerful that it is said after this film was screened for public, one Kepala Desa (Headman) must face his resignation due to his blunders. Lawuh Boled also won a lot of short film awards, where the judges always pointed out the same thing: this film is able to bring out the issue of class struggle and politics without having to sound and look preachy. It clearly shows how a short film is able to bring out social and political issues within the society honestly and actually bring an action after that. In this era in which democracy is being highly appreciated and everyone is free to contend, this is one of the most effective forms of medium that people can use to speak up and protest: film, in its audiovisual medium, gives more chances and opportunities to bring out the values that we need to bring out.

Resources:
http://cinemapoetica.com/clc-purbalingga-edukasi-film-edukasi-politik/
http://hot.detik.com/movie/read/2014/03/19/113346/2530185/229/film-lawuh-boled-kritik-siswa-sma-atas-krisis-pangan-di-desa
http://jaff-filmfest.org/2013-lawuh-boled-indonesia/

a new hello on an old paper

yes, i just feel like i have to update this blog for some random reason in which i could not explain.

i haven't been sleeping for almost 48 hours (minus two 20-minute naps, actually) for a combination of reasons and have been sleeping very late for the past week or two. it has started to torture me though -- all the heavy sleepiness, wooziness, physical exhaustion and even this feeling of uncertainty that has been coming to me for the past 2 days.

i remember last year, during the early even semester, i was hospitalised for the disease that i could not even identify until now. at the moment, i was sick, in fact i was very sick. i have got this kind of reddish spots all over my body and those were itchy. i remember it was combined with stomachache and painful joints, somewhat. i was off from campus for 2 weeks -- my pitching preparation had to be done during my bed rest time.

but before the disappointments came, i remember during me being very sick, i was full of spirit. i was full of spirit for directing (and i just left my producing preparation part, what an effing mistake). i was full of spirit for the class directing 1 in which i had to repeat (and i was satisfied with the overall class, honestly). i was full of spirit for working in aksara (remember i used to work in that gift and bookstore for 2 months). i was even full of spirit for the class film and society (the class that turned out to be one of the very few classes in which i got almost nothing, but let's not discuss this).

i was just full of spirit. i was even beyond my own control that i made myself clear i didn't want to be sick for too long.

and now, here i am, on my 6th semester, with a major film project in my hands and some other works along the way.

and i need that spirit i used to have during the early semester 4.

i don't know what's behind the reason of my currently missing, disappearing spirit, like seriously. i was trying to relieve myself during the (missing, disappearing) holidays and prepare for the next big thing that will come this semester. i was also full of spirit last semester (semester 5, odd semester with no major film production assignment) and i could feel like my passion is running inside my blood. even honestly, i enjoyed semester 5 so much that it was also one of the best semesters that i have gone through during film school years.

i have been telling my director that he needs to keep encouraging me simply just because i need it. i need encouragement. i need some sort of power that can make me keep going on. i need it like crazy. i just need it and need it and need it that i kept repeating the same thing for my own sake.

i feel guilty to my director who also said that he also feels the same way like i do, but with more reasonable and acceptable reasons that if you were him, you would probably experience the same thing. it's too long to be written, but i know that he has that right to feel the way he feels now.

but me? a brat like me? what reason could be acceptable enough for the disappearance of my spirit besides the fact that filmmaking might not be my expertise? after all, life is not always about just doing the things that you like or excel the most, right?

luckily, i have not been losing my passion for this project. producing is indeed a new thing for me. i can't say that i am fully ready for this. but i can say that i am stepping myself into it -- a good thing for a start, shouldn't it be?

(and yes, my true passion is film criticism, actually, just as what i have written in my media business and entrepreneurship assignment, in which i do not stop doing too.)

all i only need is to regain my spirit to continue going on with all the other things and also with this project. that is my goal: i need to pass this semester with full spirit.

with readiness and alacrity.

and with full love for what i am doing right now.

yes please, dearest spirit. come back to me and run through my blood like it's the early semester 4 or even last semester.

My Last Post

And here it is my last post of this semester... It is hard to believe that this semester is about to end in just 2 weeks. All classes will end soon and the holiday will come, and I'm going to be a 3rd-year student. Seems like yesterday when I first entered my first Directing 1's class. And now my second Directing 1's class is about to end.

In Directing 1, I personally think that this year's class is far more fun than last year. The learning process went much better and I think that this year is also more interactive. I believe that Charles and Willy experience the same thing as I do. Also, this year's projects are, in my opinion, more applicable for filmmaking. Maybe last year's "scene copying" project works as well, if I may say. But all these treatment, blogs and stuff really does work for me, at least.

To be honest, I can say that so far this is my toughest semester during my time in film school, but this is also the semester in which I learned the most, be it academically or non-academically. I made A LOT of mistakes this semester, and many of them are fatal mistakes. I did not win the pitch (which I can say that it is because of my own mistake), I made another bad film (which is the result of mistakes that I made), in the production workshop I won most of the "worst" awards and so on and so forth. On the other hand, I took part in 2 of my seniors' projects and I became an Assistant Producer for Lisa and Angkasa's film, where from these projects I learned a lot more. I may say that I am not a fabulous Assistant Producer because still I made mistakes, and some mistakes gave not-so-good impacts towards the others. But, seeing from the positive sides, I really am grateful to have gone through this semester. I learned not just about filmmaking, but also about social skills and management, which I am still lack of it sometimes.

I am not happy with what I have done this semester, but I am happy to have the chance to undergo all these things, because now I know that those things that I did were mistakes and I know what to do next time. I guess learning from mistakes is the best thing to do. So I know exactly how to fix it because I know that it was a mistake. Of course I am not satisfied with my achievements this semester (because I achieved nothing). I sometimes think that I am even worse than my classmates, but I hope that this can be a push for me to be better next time, in the next projects.

To everyone that must gone through hard times because of me this semester, I truly am apologise for my mistakes. And to everyone who have taught me a lot of things this semester, I thank you all truly from my heart.

I really am excited to learn more in the next upcoming semesters. Thanks to this semester that I have learned more about myself as well.

Tukang Sayur

Lately I have been very interested with the existence of tukang sayur (mobile vegetable vendors). Since my film project goes around the life of tukang sayur and tukang tambal ban (people who fix wheels of vehicles, mostly cars, bikes motorcycles), I get to see tukang sayur in my neighbourhood and found that many of them are women (although there are men as well). They carry their carts or use bikes. One who usually sells right in front of my house even uses motorcycle. Her name is Minah.

Minah's motorcycle is placed with a huge blue wooden box that has compartments to place all of her merchandises. If she arrives in front of my house, she will scream "sayuuur" so that all the maids know that she is coming. On her arrival, her motorcycle will always be full of fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, chicken and fish. You name it, from coconuts, broccolis to skinned chicken claws and heads are there. She speaks Javanese to the Javanese maids and to the ones who are not originally from Central Java, she will speak Indonesian. Minah herself comes from Solo, Central Java. My maid said that her house is located not far from the Solo Balapan Train Station.

Everyday, Minah will go to Pasar Minggu to buy her merchandises. She starts shopping at 12 AM. She will arrive in my neighbourhood at around 8 to 9.30, a bit unpredictable, but never too far from that timing. She counts the price that each and every single maid would have to pay without using the calculator and sometimes even while talking to the other maids. Later on, when the maid has to pay, sometimes she forgets the price, and if the maid does not remember the price as well, she counts again, and with the same result.

I bet that her mathematical skill in counting all those prices is far better than me, who until now still needs calculator (or if it does not exist whenever I need it, my own freaking fingers) even for just simple mathematical problems like addition and subtraction.

I am interested in how Minah lives her life as a tukang sayur. I would like to know what are her activities besides selling vegetables, how does she buy all those merchandises in the market (or maybe she needs to compete with other tukang sayur) and how much does she earn a day. I talked to another tukang sayur who also sells in my neighbourhood (she usually sells near my complex's small garden) and she can spend up to Rp 600.000, - a day for all the merchandises that she bought to be sold. On the internet, I found out that a tukang sayur can earn up to Rp 1.000.000, - a day and can get the profit for up to Rp 250,000, -.

During the holidays, I would love to make a documentary about Minah and other tukang sayur, especially women. I bet their lives can be interesting to be filmed. Remembering Directing 1 class' instruction to never make a film about ourselves, I think making a film about those "marginalised yet important" people will make myself learn even more and it will be interesting.

Udaan

I love to collect Indian movies. I started to love collecting Indian movies when my brother lived in Singapore for 9 months back then when he was finishing his college. His roommates were apparently Indians straight from Bombay if I am not mistaken, so he got the chance to watch Indian films and eat Indian food cooked by real Indians. He brought me one Indian movie titled "Taare Zameen Par", directed by Aamir Khan. It was a really beautiful film and since that (oh, and before that, I watched "3 Idiots", of course), I have the urge to find and watch more Indian movies.

Yesterday, I watched this Hindi-Indian film titled "Udaan", or "Flight" in English. Just like most Indian films, the screen time is long, but minus the Bollywood songs and dances throughout the film. The director is Vikramaditya Motwane and this film was selected in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival to compete in the Un Certain Regard category.

This is the story of Rohan, a 17-year old boy who got dropped out from his school, Bishop Cotton School, in Shimla. He returned to Jamshedpur, Jharkhand (and based on my limited knowledge about Indian geography, Jharkhand is located in the eastern part of India, far from the center of India, and is known as "the land of forests"),  his hometown, to live with his father who have never met him for the past 8 years. Rohan's mother already passed away and his father is not a person with a good attitude. Rohan did not know that he actually had a 6-year old brother named Arjun, the son of his father and his second wife in which the marriage did not work out. Rohan wished to be an author and study arts and literature, but his hard father insisted on him to become an engineer, and worse, with his father's attitude, it is impossible for Rohan to get what he has always wanted.

Through this film, I can see that Rohan is a troubled boy who happens to become troublesome. The filmmaker tries to criticise many social aspects with a very smooth way. I bet there will people who can relate themselves with this film, although their conditions might not be entirely the same. The obstacles are built step-by-step, with ups and downs within the family itself, making us sympathise even more with Rohan. His character is so loveable that I want him to win this conquer.

I do not think that telling the end of the story and the whole story itself will be fun to do, but I do think that the need to tell people that this film succeeds in pointing out the social aspects within the smallest part of society which is family. This family is dysfunctional and yet Rohan does not stop with his condition. It is also the story of hope, in a very weird way. Also, only few women are portrayed in this film. Perhaps this is a man's film that is meant to be watched by everyone, including women.

I do recommend people to watch this film. You might not see the famous, handsome Indian actors, but you will see another reality out there, a hard reality that is being brought through film.

The Second Failure

Yes, I am pretty sure that everyone in the film school knows already about my bad film.

Last year I made such a bad film even I do not want to see it again. It was a compilation of bad works from most departments, especially script. Oh, remembering that makes me want to laugh on myself. How could I produce and direct such kind of film last year?

This year, I returned and... made another bad film. I guess for some, it was even worse. Not from the picture-wise, but it is more to the directing wise. To be honest, this year's rough cut was even harder and rougher for me than last year. It gave such a big impact that I thought that directing might not be my expertise.

I realize that there are many aspects from my film that needed to be improved. Believability is the first thing. Then, story. Then, the direction. And so on and so forth, I bet there will be a lot of things that I am going to list here if I need to recheck on my film. What makes it harder for me is because I can pretty much say that this is my second (well, I actually think that this is my first) film and yet I made another fatal mistake.

On set, I had so much fun. I got to work with my Focus friends who are willing to help me sincerely without any complaints (at all, yes, at all), I have actors who are close to me, I have a still photographer who captured moments during my shoot, I have a senior who is also willing to help me sincerely as my DOP (who then came up with beautiful pictures that amazed the lecturers, thanks Mike). But turned out that the result was not as fun as the making itself, yes of course. I missed and messed up at a lot of spots. I realised that my story became way too offensive that it made me feel worse than last year.

I started to be ashamed of myself, but I want to give myself another chance. Next year, I am thinking of pitching myself as a producer. I realise that I am a pretty weak director, but I believe that I can pretty much manage things. I am an assistant producer this year and I have learned from both producer and director on how do they work. I spend more time with my producer helping to manage things, count the budget, know the expenses and so on. I guess I can use the knowledge that I have learned this year for next year's production.

Remembering what everyone told me that school is the time to make mistakes and learn, at least that can make me feel a bit better. I have another chance, this Sunday to be exact, to reshoot my film. I want to give myself a chance. I do not want to expect too much, but I want to be better. That is all I can say.

Failures. Everyone has failures and mistakes. The least I can be grateful of is that I did not make the same mistake like last year, and I hope that I can minimise my mistakes and make a better film next Sunday.

3 Days to Shoot

Sorry for not updating this blog for a long time.

I have been very busy this past 3 weeks. Until now I have joined 3 film productions. Started with the shoot of "Crush" (which is my own team, along with Angkasa and Lisa), then "Big Love" (Henna and Gio) and the last was "Eden" (Mike and George). Now I am doing my preproduction for my own film, "Klepek-klepek", which is actually the final task for this class, Directing 1.

Through the whole 3 weeks, I must admit that I learned so much from my team and senior's production. The leap from last year's production to this year's production is so big that I realised I have not known many things related to filmmaking. Filmmaking is not an easy thing to do. There are a lot of stuff (including pressures) going on and we must be able to arrange all those things in harmony to be able to make a good film.

In Crush, my job description was to become Lisa's Assistant Producer. I helped her breaking down the budget, being the Craft Service (which was a really big thing to do, since we had more crew members on the third day compared to the first and second day so we should add more food), breaking down the script and becoming a Production Assistant (yes, PA) during the production days. Crush took 3 days to shoot. We had 2 locations: Willy's house in Pantai Indah Kapuk and Binus FX for all the campus scenes except the toilet scene which was done in Binus JWC (oh, actually we also did an exterior scene in the halte right in front of Binus JWC). There were many obstacles coming towards us especially budget constrain and time limit, but thank God the whole team could manage it.

In both Big Love and Eden, I also became a PA. Basically I helped cleaning the set, buying cigarettes for other crew members (since I do not smoke), making and serving cups of coffee and tea and do other stuff. Big Love was shot in Meruya and Eden was shot in Bintaro. Seniors had more crew members than us, moreover many of them are recruited (not from Binus). These 2 productions were my first experiences working with many people outside from Binus, especially they are the professional ones.

My own preproduction drives me crazy. I have to deal with production and directing stuff at the same time for 1 week (thank God I have Phoen as my Producer, so he can help me in some other stuff related to production-wise). The biggest thing throughout my own preproduction is the change of script and story. But I enjoy it so much. I believe that I will learn a lot from my own production, especially as a Director. I also want to apply all the things I learned throughout the other productions that I joined to my production, so I do not have to make the same mistake or I can follow what they did if that works.

Yes, it is exhausting and it makes me cannot sleep. But I really want it to be good and I am putting my positive spirit right now.