{"id":1572,"date":"2019-06-12T08:01:51","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T08:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sukumentawai.org\/en\/?p=1572"},"modified":"2022-07-01T05:41:24","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T05:41:24","slug":"bali-international-indigenous-film-festival-biiff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sukumentawai.org\/en\/2019\/06\/bali-international-indigenous-film-festival-biiff\/","title":{"rendered":"Bali International Indigenous Film Festival (BIIFF) 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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After receiving invitation to attend and participate in the International Indigenous Film Festival in Bali<\/a>, the Yayasan Pendidikan Budaya Mentawai (YPBM) foundation delegated this opportunity to one representative, Martison Siritoitet. Martison is a Mentawai youth working for YPBM in the field of Media publications and has been developing a number of short film projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIIFF, in its second year, is an event organised by Emmanuela Shinta, the Founder of Ranu Welum Foundation<\/a>, and photographer and promotor of Indigenous rights, David Metcalf. This event was attended by 25 film directors from 14 countries, presenting approximately 40 documentary films  focused on Indigenous-related issues. The opening night was held at the Njana Tilem Museum on the 10th of May and films presented at Paradiso Ubud from the 11-13th May, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to showing films, this event\nalso gave us opportunity to participate in Focus Group Discussions (FGD). The\nFGD was in relation to how best empower and improve opportunity and capacity\nfor Indigenous filmmakers to achieve our objectives and develop solutions to\nour issues. This included future planning, targets, and how to obtain funding\nto advance the implementation of Indigenous filmmaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a beginner filmmaker, Martison explained\nthat the events such as BIIFF and the opportunity to participate provides\nimmense hope for Indigenous filmmakers to continue to work and raise the voices\nof Indigenous communities who would otherwise not be heard and appreciated\nthroughout the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At present, the perception from both outsiders and some Mentawai people themselves still shows that studying the Mentawai culture is not taken seriously. Sadly, learning about our cultural values is considered backward and a poor way to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nowadays, when the people think about\nMentawai they perhaps only think about Sikerei (shaman) dressed in loincloth\nperforming monkey-like dances and rituals. Whereas the depth of our culture so\nmuch more than that. Culture also includes behavior, relationships, development,\njustice, humanity, language, sustainability, spirituality, community, ethics, identity\nand more. I do not blame others for such stigma and assumptions because, in my\nopinion, this happens because of a lack of references and information about our\nMentawai people and culture. However, motivated by this perception and stigma,\nI am encouraged to slowly change people’s views about the value of preserving\nculture and the protection this will bring to our future generations for years\nto come. This is what I hope to portray and impact through short films, as this\nis an important step to at least minimize the destruction into the future.\n“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a short interview with Martison about\nhis experiences at BIIFF:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\ndid you become a participant at BIIFF?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I received information about BIIFF from a friend, Rob Henry, who is President and Founder of our partner organization Indigenous Education Foundation (IEF)<\/a>. Rob gave me information about the BIIFF event and program and helped secure the funding to travel to Bali to attend. I have been working alongside Rob to gain experience and skill in making documentary films and felt that this was a good opportunity for me to develop and show my work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\nlong have you been a Filmmaker and is this your Profession?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I only began learning how to make a short\ndocumentary films about three months ago, so I can be sure to explain that I am\nyet to be an expert of claim this as my profession. However, I believe that by\ntaking these steps and building momentum towards the next steps that I can make\na difference with this art, even though I have very limited capabilities and access\nto video equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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