Position among the Stars | |
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Directed by | Leonard Retel Helmrich |
Written by | Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich Leonard Retel Helmrich |
Produced by | Scarabeefilms |
Cinematography | Leonard Retel Helmrich |
Edited by | Jasper Naaijkens |
Distributed by | Cinema Delicatessen |
Release date |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
Country | Netherlands |
Language | Indonesian |
Position Among the Stars (Dutch : Stand van de Sterren) is a 2010 documentary film directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich. It was released on 17 November 2010 as the opening film of the IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam). The documentary is the continuation of Eye of the Day and Shape of the Moon and follows again the Sjamsuddin family, consisting of three generations, living in the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia.
The film follows a family in transition as they adjust to bewildering gaps in education, outlook, religion and even class among three generations jammed into cramped quarters in Jakarta. At the head of the family the shiftless Bakti gambles incessantly with his Siamese fighting fish while his frustrated wife, Sri, runs a small food stall, and his orphaned niece, Tari, cares more about obtaining blue contact lenses than preparing for her high school graduation. [1]
Tari emerges as the family's star as the tumult of democracy and corruption grip the country. Tari has the possibility that she may be the first in her family to experience higher education. She passes her final examination. With a mortgage on the home, they finance her university study. Her uncle Bakti quarrels with his wife. He uses holy water for his fighting fish, and she takes revenge by cooking them. Dwi (Baktis brother) is upset after their mother Rumijah has taught her little grandson Bagus a Christian prayer since the boy is raised by Dwi as a Muslim. There is a near fire as the family converts from cooking with oil to cheaper gas. Bakti drags the poor grandmother Rumijah back from life in her ancestral village to take charge of the youngster and expose Tari to traditional values in the run-up to her graduation and application to college. [2] [3]
Leonard Retel Helmrich observed the fortunes of the Sjamsuddin family living in a Jakarta slum for twelve years. The result is a trilogy, covering the topics economy, politics and religion in Indonesia. Moreover, every part stands for an own tense : the past, the present and the future of the country. Yet, each film stands on its own, so they don't have to be watched subsequently. While the tumultuous changes that have rocked Indonesian society swirl around the family, more than anything Retel Helmrich has intimately captured a family in transition as they adjust to bewildering gaps in education, outlook, religion and even class among three generations jammed into cramped quarters. Leonard Retel Helmrich filmed in a remarkably intimate cinema verité style that he calls Single Shot Cinema, which emphasizes camera movement and long takes. [4]
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Cinema of the Netherlands refers to the film industry based in the Netherlands. Because the Dutch film industry is relatively small, and there is little or no international market for Dutch films, almost all films rely on state funding. This funding can be achieved through several sources, for instance through the Netherlands Film Fund or the public broadcast networks. In recent years the Dutch Government has established several tax shelters for private investments in Dutch films.
The cinema of Indonesia refers to films produced domestically in Indonesia. The statutory Indonesian Film Board, or BPI, defines Indonesian films as "movies that are made by or using Indonesian resources whose Intellectual Property Right is owned either entirely or partly by Indonesian citizen or Indonesian legal entity".
Indonesia Calling is a 1946 Australian short documentary film directed by Joris Ivens and produced by the Waterside Workers' Federation. The film depicts post-World War II Sydney as trade union seamen and waterside workers refuse to service Dutch ships containing arms and ammunition destined for Indonesia to suppress the country's independence movement. Ivens filming of the events taking place gradually became a symbol even for those who had not seen the film and had a growing following in the Netherlands, long before the film had an audience.
Leonard Retel Helmrich was a Dutch cinematographer and film director. Born in Tilburg, he moved to Amsterdam in 1982. He was a two-time International Documentary winner at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). On June 5, 2018, he was awarded with the title Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion by the Dutch King Willem-Alexander. Helmrich was known for his work with the "single shot cinema" filming method.
Shape of the Moon is a 2004 Dutch/Indonesian documentary film directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich. The documentary was released on 24 November 2004 as the opening film of IDFA.
Eye of the Day is a Dutch/Indonesian documentary from 2001 directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich. The documentary released on 1 March 2001.
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