Triwik Kurniasari , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 07/19/2009 9:24 AM | People
kapanlagi.com
This man has been through various characters in many movies and performances, delving deeply into the roles to show his devotion to acting.
For instance, he plays a Balinese journalist in the Indonesian movie Telegram; stars as a dukun santet (sorcerer) in Kafir (Infidel); and plays the head of a political party in Capres or Calo President (A Broker for the President).
Born in East Java’s Jember on Aug. 31, 1962, Sujiwo Tejo even made the big sacrifice in Capres of having his hair cut — something he had not done since university — in a bid to suit his role better.
After a series of characters, hard work and even sacrifices for his love of acting, Sujiwo decided to step into a new profession as a film director.
While he has directed a number of documentaries and theater shows, directing a movie is a brand new thing for Tejo.
He is currently gearing up to direct 3G (Bahwa Cinta Itu Ada) or 3G (That Love Does Exist), which is based on a novel of the same title written by Dermawan Wibisono.
The story was inspired by the life of Tejo and his friends during their studies at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in the early 1980s, featuring the life, love and friendship of students at the campus.
So, what exactly made Tejo decide to become a director?
Of course, there were several reasons, Tejo said. But it was largely about fulfilling his dissatisfaction at just being an actor.
“Being an actor is like buying a cat in a sack,” Tejo said.
“Once we receive a script, we may first think it is great, but when the script is turned into a movie, you might be disappointed because it is not as good as you thought,” he said.
Learning from experience, Tejo chose to roll up his sleeves and become totally involved in a movie by directing one.
“By being a director, I have the opportunity to control the script, as well as to edit the movie so I don’t feel like buying a cat in a sack.
“It might take a long time but it is more satisfying [than acting],” he said.
Tejo admitted that he had never attended a film academy to learn about film directing, saying he was just learning as he went.
“I learned to be a puppet master, for instance, from my father and from daily experience, like preparing the puppets and gamelan [traditional Javanese musical instruments] before the show,” he said.
The 46-year-old said his experience as an actor had helped him a lot in directing the movie.
With no experiences or technical knowledge about movie making, Tejo said he should be supported by some experts including a co-director, assistant director and cameramen.
“I only have feelings. I don’t know about cameras that might be suitable for a certain scene. All I can do is just give a picture to my crew. Fortunately, I can paint. So, maybe I will translate my ideas into sketches,” he said.
Tejo is eager to learn from foreign movies and film directors, claiming he likes French and Iranian flicks. Tejo also said he admired Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, China’s Zhang Yimou, and America’s Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino.
He also takes opportunities to get advice from fellow local directors, including Joko Anwar and Riri Riza.
Tejo highlighted that there were differences between the old and new generations of directors. In the 70’s, the directors mostly had theatrical backgrounds and placed acting skills above everything, while modern directors tend to pay more attention on technical matters, Tejo said.
“Movie directors from the 1970s mostly had theatre backgrounds, such as Arifin C. Noer from Teater Kecil and Teguh Karya from Teater Populer,” Tejo said, referring to two prominent Indonesian movie directors.
The directors, he said, were really concerned about the skills of actors and often spent time sharing knowledge with them during breaks.
“But modern-day directors, mostly graduates from the Jakarta Arts Institute [IKJ], often speak more with their cameramen and lighting specialists than actors during breaks,” he said.
Tejo remembered when he was directed by Slamet Rahardjo in Telegram, saying he was motivated and encouraged to act well. “But when I worked with younger directors, I was never coached because they were too busy with technical things,” he said.
“So, in my debut as a director, I want to balance both acting skills and technical matters,” he said.
The idea of writing and filming the story, Tejo said, originated from a mailing list of students of the class of 1981.
The postings on the mailing list revealed love stories among students during their time on campus.
“We later came up with an idea of embodying the unforgettable stories into a novel. We were able to realize this idea through Dermawan, who is also an ITB alumnus,” Tejo said, adding that the movie was made in conjunction with ITB’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
The movie is about the friendship of six students — five men and a woman –from different regions, races and backgrounds.
While the five men can blend and can get along with each other, when it comes to Ria, the only woman in the group who is also the sweetheart of the campus, they “fight” each other to try and win her heart.
Twenty-five years after their graduation, when they have become successful people, they reunite.
None of the five men marry Ria, while Ria, who has beauty, brains and a good career, surprisingly gets married at the age of 47 to someone unexpected.
It was impossible for Ria to love the man because he is very different to her, but she ends up falling for him and marrying him.
“The message [of the movie] is clear; that love does exist. I hope people will get something after watching the movie, realizing that love doesn’t know boundaries,” Tejo said.
The story takes place in two different settings – the 1980’s and the present day – and has double casts.
Prominent producer Budiyati Abiyoga, who produced Naga Bonar Jadi 2 (Naga Bonar Becomes 2), and film critic Arya Gunawan are involved in the project.
Some professional actresses, including Nurul Arifin, Widyawati and Marini Sardi, have agreed to take part in the project.
Tejo said there would also be some new faces in the upcoming movie. “I like recruiting new talent because I’m basically an acting teacher,” he said.
“I honestly prefer to use newcomers instead of movie stars, but I can’t do that because the movie industry doesn’t allow me to. I must use established actors and actresses in the movie,” he said.
Tejo is also well known as a writer, painter, musician and dalang (puppet master).
As a puppet master, Tejo often breaks traditions of traditional Javanese puppetry, for example by presenting the evil character Rahwana as a good character.
Tejo recently gave the public a big surprise by giving his full support to Vice President Jusuf Kalla in this year’s presidential election, deciding to cast his ballot after being a member of the golongan putih (non-voter group) for years.
He even appeared in television ads, swearing before his late mother Sulastri that he would vote for Kalla because he felt good about him.
“I swore before her because she was my everything. I was afraid of her. We are nothing in front of our mothers. I used to lie on the floor and ask her to walk over me three times every time I went out of house,” Tejo said, claiming he did not know Kalla in person and received nothing from him for the support.
Tejo was mildly disappointed at Kalla and his running mate Wiranto’s performance in the election.
“I was quite surprised to see the election results, which showed that he only gained a few votes. I was expecting a second round,” he said.
Now that the elections are over Tejo can focus on his debut as director. He plans to begin shooting in September, and hopes to release the film by the end of this year.
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