Jiffest time..!!!

It is the time of the year for Jiffest again. Unfortunately enough, i only had the opportunity to watch one of its screenings just a day before closing. For those of you who dont know what Jiffest is, it is Jakarta International Film Festival. This year, it is the 9th annual of Jiffest.

From their program book I learn that this year Jiffest screens more than 200 films from more than 30 countries. The venues for the screenings include Goethe Institut, Erasmus Huis, Djakarta XXI, Kineforum, and Blitz Megaplex.

The organising comittee sets up the festival as follows: 1. World Cinema; this section shows big films with already known names behind them. 2. Panorama; shows equally good films bit from lesser-known directors and actors. And number 3. House of Docs; shows top documentaries, and last 4. Variety; shows quality short films from around the world. Beginning this year, Jiffest also showcasing films from South East Asian countries. This year presentations was a feature about the legendary Malaysian actor, P. Ramlee, and a film from Singapore's talented film maker Royston Tan, "881". This year, Jiffest also hosted the "Indonesian Feature Film Competition", where all Indonesian films released from end of 2006 to 2007 will be screened for free. There's also Script Development Competition being held.

I watched the film titled "Atos Dos Homens" at the Goethe Institut. The film was a documentary about a massacre in Baixada, near the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It captures the lives of both residents and murderers who live in the same area. It turned out that the perpetrator were all corrupt police officer who went on rampage, on a day in March 2005.