“10 Years Indonesian Film Revival” Discussion Panel Tuesday, 9.12.08 - 14:20 The panel began at 10:00 in the morning at Galeri Cipta 3, Taman Ismail Marzuki. Present was Mari Pangestu (Minister of Industry), Dr. Ukus Kuswara (Director of the Departement of Film, Ministry of Culture and Tourism), Mira Lesmana (Film Producer), Darmin Nasution (Tax Department Director, Ministry of Finance), Handry Satriago and Wayah S. Wiroto (researchers, “Indonesia Movie Industry: A competitiveness Study”), Deddy Mizwar (actor, director), Nia Dinata (producer, director) and representatives of the local film post-processing companies, as well as other industry players and members of the press. The speakers represent the cinematographers / film intellectuals, the businessmen / film-industri workers, and local government. A consensus has been formed, as in previous occations, that although the Indonesian fim industry is currently experiencing a revival, there are several things about the industry which could potentially block the progress of Indonesia's film industry. Mira Lesmana took opportunity to outline 8 things which would require immediate attention right now: Inadequacy of film education Low level of theater development outside of Jakarta Film tax Troublesome government laws and bureaucracy (specifically the recently approved law concerning usage of local technical film services, which will come into effect in January) Pressure from certain communities and from the censorship board Lack of availability of easily accessible film industry data Access to funding, and Weakness of international commercial promotion infrastructure for Indonesian films. Mari Pangestu agrees that there are problems blocking the progress of Indonesian film. Regarding bureaucracy, Mrs Mari agrees there is a need to further discuss the laws. As for industrial data she brings up an example where her ministry takes advantage of research data from AC Nielsen, and suggests that the Film Industry may explore these private-sector sources of data. Ukus Kuswara states that film tax is still heavily discussed in his departement. The government also hopes that the Indonesian film industry helps government in forming the Indonesian film industry structure, in partnership with all stakeholders. Deddy Mizwar states that these problems are quite classic. For example film tax in Medan is one of the highest in the world, for as much as 30% of ticket price. And theater funding has long been a problem in Indonesia. Discussion continued warmly until it concluded at 12 in the afternoon for lunch.