5 mei 2007***********************************************************6 juli 2007
* Special Features Only
1. studies for Hey Joe
Credits
Joe Yudi Ahmad Tajudin
Dancer Fitri Setyaningsih
Motor Lestari
camera & direction Gerard Holthuis
production manager Alia Swastika
production assistant Citra De
assistant to mr. Holthuis Agung "Gembong" Nugraha
dvd authoring Chandra Hutagaol
Glidecam operator/Light Wisnu
studies for Hey Joe realized with special support from the
Fund for Visual art, Design en Architecture, The Netherlands
2. It's always sunday in jogja
Credits
featured artists
Tita Rubi
Eko Nugroho
Angki Purbandono
Ugo Untoro
Wara Anindyah and family
Yudi Ahmad Tajuddin
Bondan Nusantara
Pak Kasman
Cokroningrat
Nindityo Adipurnomo
Eko Prawoto
Afrizal Malna
Camera and editing Gerard Holthuis
Interviews/production Alia Swastika
General assistant Agung "Gembong" Nugraha
computer graphics Chandra Hutagaol
©2007, filmstad producties bv
Synopsis Hey Joe.
Hey Joe is a film about the lives of 4 young men in Jogjakarta, Bali, Bangkok and The Netherlands. The men are all called “Joe”. They all face an important decision which is forced up on them. Although it is a feature film, the four stories stand alone and do not mix. There is a preface and an epilogue. The film starts with a “bang” from nature and ends with a “bang” caused by a human act.
The facts of the story are not so important in this film. It is more the impact of the scenes which translates feelings to the viewer. The film uses common day dramatic structures of soap series, action films and even drama, but is heavenly fragmented. There is no continuity.
Preface: consists of archival filmmaterial from an eruption of a volcano in Asia in the 1920's. Although it is silent footage, realistic sound is added to revive the atmosphere of that era. Black and white.
Joe 1 lives in the area of Jogjakarta and faces difficulties after an outbreak of a volcano. His whole family is killed and his small business has vanished. He falls in love with a dancer, but is rejected by her family. Having nothing more to live for in this world, he leaves his hometown and heads for a big city to start a new life.
Joe 2 is a young boy in Bali who lives from small crime in the slums of Kuta beach. He mainly steals from tourists. He makes the mistake to steal the wallet of an australian man, Jack. That man is a mafioso and hooks up with the real estate maffia in Bali. He plans to explode a bomb in a place where many tourists come. The tourist industry will blame the islam fundamentalists and will collapse so Jack and his friends can buy real estate property (hotels/restaurants) very cheap. Joe 2 is catched by Jack and forced to plant the bomb in a hotel.
Joe 3 is a Bangkok policeman who makes money from small corruption. He oversees a small neighbourhood in the centre of chinatown. When the military overtrow the government and replace it, more military flood Bangkok, and he is relieved from his post. That means he loses his major form of income. During the Chinese New Year he is asked by a former government employee to go back to his neighbourhood and pose again as a man of the law. But this time he has to close his eyes for what happens to be another coup d'etat. We follow Joe when he prepares for this job and walks back to his old neighbourhood.
Joe 4 is an illegal imigrant in The Netherlands. He is a biologist and fled Myanmar to save his life because he refused to work on a biological warfare program. The Dutch question his story and he is not allowed to stay. Joe goes underground and lives the life of a tramp. No income, no family, no future. He is on his own. One night he steals a car, just for pleasure. The situation was to tempting to not do it. He also finds some money left in the car. He drives into the night and sees the rich western city at night. With all it's glamour and low life. He arrives at a street where he sees prostitutes behind red lighted windows. After being alone for months, he cannot resist and he visits a prostitute and has hot steamy anonymous sex.
Epilogue: In a deserted city at night where life seems quiet, a bomb explodes and a building collapses. The area panics and comes to life. Rescue workers flood the site. Panic breaks out. But life goes on.
“I cannot show you the sound of a violin on a piano” - Frans Zwartjes
“Three months is a very short time” people told me when I went to Jogjakarta for a residency. I had to think about the shooting of Careless Reef when I was under water without air for 2 minutes. Well, I can tell you that was “a very long time”! Time is relative.
So is filmmaking. We see “a film” as a finished product, something with an idea or a story or a collection of facts. I spent my time in Jogja by not making a finished film, but to focus on the process which is called filmmaking. The week before I left Holland I got an opportunity to write a script for a feature film. It should be finished in 4 weeks. I started to develop the story, Hey Joe, while being in Jogja and at the same time got the idea to actually film one part of the film while being here. This scene was about waiting, about doing nothing, about walking around, eating, driving a motorbike and sleeping. Nothing special. And yes, there was a scene with a woman. In Fitri Setyaningsih and Yudi Ahmad Tajuddin I found the characters who were patient enough to accompany me on my quest for nothingness. To film what is impossible to explain.
“Next to the throne of victory sits failure” - Theo Botschuyver
I did not want to dedicate my whole residency on one subject so I also started to work on a film with the working title “ It is always sunday in Jogja”. Let Jogja artists inspire me with their works and being. See them and their work not from the standpoint of a curator, but from their influence they have in the daily life. Art as an inspiration for a way of seeing the world. The selection of the artists was more or less accidental. I had several exiting afternoons visiting each artist. Discussions about their work, art and the art education in Indonesia and daily life. I filmed a piercing session, the end of an exposition, the house of a painting family and an afternoon at a Conde store. And most of all there were no interviews, no explanation of the works. Let the art do the talking.
“Time is as elastic as chewing gum” - Gerard Holthuis
The result of the three months residency is partly seen and heard on this dvd. As you may find out, there is no feature film(s) only the special features ar there. Commentary of the director in english and Indonesian. And there is also the exposition with two works which will only be seen by those who visited it. And hopefully in a year there will be a feature film with the title Hey Joe. We'll see. Jogja was an immense inspiring experience.
“I'll be back” - Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator
Oh Yeah, and if your dutch is up to date, there is a weblog which tells and shows you about all the adventures of being a resident in Jogja for 3 months. Landingsoonholthuis.blogspot.com
And let's not forget my dedicated crew.
Jogjakarta, july 2007
