Chasing Waves Launches Indonesian Movie Screenings
The premiere screening of the movie titled Mengejar Ombak (Chasing Waves), which was held in the Indonesian Embassy in London was also used to launch the Indonesian Movie Nights which will be held in London, Leeds and Newcastle from February to June 2010. The Indonesian Movie Screenings is conducted by the Embassy of Indonesia in London in cooperation with the Indonesian Community Association in London (WADAH) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
The film Mengejar Ombak is a semi-documentary film which tells the story of a young Indonesian surfer, Dede Suryana, on his way to fame. Dede has succeeded to become Indonesia’s champion surfer and has won the Gold Winner medal twice at the Asian Beach Games. This film, which is the first work from director Dave Arnold also tells about the culture clash experienced by Dede who comes from a traditional Islamic family who later lived in Bali where he was exposed to Western cultures as part of his life as an athlete surf.
This film has been shown previously in Blitz Megaplex Jakarta and obtained a rather lively reception from various parties. Besides that, this film has also won Best Emerging Filmmaker, and Best Original Score at X-Dance Film Festival 2009 in Utah, USA.
In his speech, Ambassador Yuri Thamrin, explained that the screening of the film Mengejar Ombak and other Indonesian films during the Indonesian film event in several cities across the UK is to encourage more and more British people who wish to know Indonesia on a deeper level and who also wish to visit as a tourist. In addition, this film event was held in the Indonesia Embassy, London, in an attempt to synergize the activities of other Indonesian tourism promotion in London this year, such as tourism and trade promotion which will be held in the famous Department Store in the UK, Harrods, in April.
The film premiere of Mengejar Ombak was attended by an audience of about 120 people, mostly British citizens. Among the spectators who attended, the British ambassador in Jakarta, Martin Hatfull, and his wife, whom were visiting London at the time, came to enjoy the screening. The former British ambassador in Jakarta, Sir Robin Christopher, the members of the Anglo-Indonesian Society and film arts community in London were also amongst the crowd.
After watching the film, the audience seemed satisfied and was very keen to discuss with director David Arnold regarding the film’s production process which was filmed in Indonesia. Upon departure, numerous amounts of tourism brochures could be spotted in the hands of most of the audience.
London, 18 February 2010
