UNS – Being a Prosecutor, a dance film which tells about the ambiguity of the prosecutor’s profession is elected in the official selection of America Dance Film’s (ADF’s) Movies by Movers 2020 in Durham, United States. ADF’s Movies is a biennial festival dedicated to celebrating conversations between the body and the camera by collaborating on the art of performance and cinematography.
The dance film from Dr. Deny Tri Ardianto, S.Sn., Dipl. Art., the Faculty Member of Visual Communication Design (DKV) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta is adapted from one of the phenomenal pupuh (Java traditional poem) in Serat Jayengbaya from Raden Ranggawarsita entitled Dadi Jeksa (Being a Prosecutor). To uns.ac.id, Dr. Deny told that in line with the content of the pupuh, the film recorded two contradicting characters of a prosecutor (Jeksa) which leads to ambiguity.
“Thus, there is a paradox of the glory and nobleness of prosecutor profession as the guardian of the pillar of the justice. But at the same time humiliation, hypocrisy, cunning, and greed of a prosecutor who trades law and justice in the form of bribes, tributes that carve deep revenge for the people,” explained the Faculty Member of Faculty of Art and Design (FSRD) UNS, Sunday (17/5/2020).
Further, Dr. Deny describes how Being a Prosecutor uses various semiotic elements or symbols to express meaning. For example, people hate that rooted and expressed in the curse words and if there exists a tree that bears no fruits, the prosecutor’s head will be planted on the tree. Likewise, with the description of the cursed corpse of the prosecutor, if he dies his tomb must be kept away from the community at large.
When asked about the background of the film production, Dr. Deny stated that he wanted to create a film that based on the traditional culture, especially Java cultures as the source of ideas in the creation of artworks. This is a part of his effort to conserve and develop traditional art and culture to be better known by the current millennial generation.
Concerning the type of dance film that he selected, he thinks the incorporation of traditional stories narrated in contemporary dance language and packaged in film media has created a new medium. Through dance film, he wants to present a work that cannot be found in other types of films in general.
“Through the dance film, I invite the audience to communicate and discuss to explore alternative spaces in the creation of works of art that are not present in narrative films or other types,” added the alumnus of UNS.
Dr. Deny and team mission to bring Javanese culture through dance film received a lot of warm welcomes and stages to perform. Since it was first exhibited in August 2019 at PostFest 2019 – An International Art Exhibition, ‘Being a Prosecutor’ has been exhibited and invited to various prestigious art and film events, both in Indonesia and international level. After appearing at PostFest 2019, this film was chosen to be exhibited at the 2019 International Visual Art Exhibition at the Poh Chang Academy of Art, Bangkok, Thailand, and was also invited to the 2019 Jakarta Dance Carnival in October 2019.
In 2020, ADF’s Movies by Movers is not the only platform entered by ‘Being a Prosecutor’. Before this, the dance film produced on July-August 2019 was also elected at the official Frame Rush selection – A place for the Screendance Film Festival in London-UK and (C) Screen-Spring Dancefilm Festival in Barcelona-Spain.
“In September 2020, if there is no obstacle (it) will also be screened in a dance film festival in Hongkong,” stated Dr. Deny.
Starting from P2M UNS Creation and Presentation of Art Research scheme 2019, the film was produced by Dr. Deny together with FSRD UNS faculty members among others Dr. Bedjo Riyanto, M.Hum and the late Drs. Putut. H. Pramana, M.Si as researchers. Besides, he also involved a film team from TheRockies Film who for eight years had worked together on various Dr. Deny dance and commercial film projects. As for the choreographer, Dr. Deny and team was assisted by a rising choreographer, Otniel Tasman and his team.
The long journey and process certainly gave meaning and pride to Dr. Deny. After several years of processing dance films, he has a network of festivals throughout the world.
“These festivals are world-class festivals whose submissions can reach thousands of films. This certainly brings its own challenges for us. So, being selected and being presented at a world-class festival is a matter of pride,” he said.
On the other hand, the long process and pride are what encourage Dr. Deny to keep creating. Currently, Dr. Deny also being preoccupied with the work of the P2M results of the Art Creation and Presentation Research (P3S) 2020 scheme which was again inspired by the work of Raden Ronggowarsita, the Serat Centhini.
Even, the Covid-19 pandemic inspires him to create the ‘Morning Coffee’ which tells about how a woman responds to the Covid-19 pandemic while staying at home. This short movie was done during his work from the home period and is currently going through the curation process in several Covid-19 themed dance film festival.
At the end of the conversation, Dr. Deny conveyed his expectation on dance film in Indonesia which is rich with art and culture, especially traditional dances. He wishes that there will be more filmmakers and choreographers who have an awareness to direct their potential creation into a dance film.
“Imagine if that were realized, how many dance films were produced in Indonesia with various characters. That is certainly very interesting. And because the film is a popular medium that is more easily accepted by all groups, perhaps through dance films, Indonesian films are better able to speak in global forums. That’s my hope,” Dr. Deny closed. Humas UNS/Kaffa
