Religion and Film in Southeast Asia Course

Do we get a religious education when we go to the movies? How do we think about films as ‘texts’ that can tell us something about religious beliefs, practices and politics the Southeast Asian context? In this fall semester, Center for Religious and Cross Cultural Studies (CRCS), UGM, in cooperation with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawai’i Manoa, organized Religion and Film course focusing on Southeast Asian’s film. This class is conducted by Syamsul Ma’arif, Ph.D (Cand.) from CRCS and Kelli Swazey Ph.D (Cand.) from University of Hawai’i every Friday at 1.30 to 3.00 PM.

 

Film showings will be held on Friday every other week and open for public, so other students who do not enrolled in the course or public can join the shows. Below are the synopsis of all the films. Selected film reviews and papers from this course will be published on the website of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at UH Manoa, as part of their Southeast Asian Film Program (http://www.cseashawaii.org/wordpress/category/film/film_news/). And the full syllabus can be downloaded at www.crcs.ac.id/download.

 

COURSE OVERVIEW:

 

This course aims to look at how religion is characterized and displayed through the medium of film, and to introduce students to methods of approaching films as texts. Films will be related to their cultural contexts, as a window on the current politics of religion and religious identity in Southeast Asia. What kinds of ‘signifying practices’ (Turner 1999) do films employ to portray the significance of religious practices and identities? By learning the language of film and the techniques used to communicate meaning, we’ll consider in what ways regional films interact with the dominant discourses regarding religion.

 

Seeing how religion is captured on film across Southeast Asia will facilitate comparison between cultural and political contexts in the region, and illuminate some of the dominant narratives about religion (and responses to them). The theory of “national cinema” will be applied to see what kind of role governments play in national film industries, and the influence of political context on how religion is portrayed on film.

 

In this course, we will view both feature films and documentaries from Southeast Asia that touch on religious themes. Film showings will be held every other week – the sessions between viewing the films will be structured as discussion seminars for students enrolled in the course.

 

The complimentary purpose of this course is to create a forum in which the public will be exposed to contemporary representations of religion on film in Indonesia, and from other regions of Southeast Asia. Viewers will be encouraged to take a more critical approach to what is portrayed on the “silver screen” and think of film as one tool for exploring current constructions of religion. Students will take a leading role in facilitating discussions, applying methods learned in class to encourage a more critical interpretation of the portrayal of religion on film in the contemporary Southeast Asian context.

 

COURSE GOALS:

 

1. Introduce students to critical film theory and the ‘language’ necessary to reading and analyzing film

2. Use films from across the Southeast Asian region to identify trends in the presentation of religious issues in popular context

3. Use the medium of film to think about how normative values are communicated through popular culture, and the role of national film industries in Southeast Asia

4. Improve student’s skills in critical analysis, discussion facilitation, and reading for graduate seminars

 

FILMS:

 

Friday, October 7th, 2011

Muallaf

2008, MALAYSIA

Directed by Yasmin Ahmad

 

In Muallaf, Yasmin Ahmad's 5th film follows two sisters on the ?lam from their abusive father and their relationship with a young? Chinese teacher at their local school.  

 

Friday, October 21st, 2011

Mekhong Full Moon Party

2002, THAILAND

Jira Maligool

Thai and Lao with English Subtitles

 

Mekhong Full Moon Party is heavily brandished with Thai charm and wit, and this charm and wit is what director Jira Maligool does best! I find Maligool being able to really sum up Thai culture better in Mekhong Full Moon Party than I have seen from any Thai film to date.The film throws together a mixed bag of characters who are all trying to push their beliefs on the origin of the Naga Fire Balls. There are the skeptical scientists, devoted believers in the Buddhist faith, cheeky Buddhist monks, and then the barge loads of tourists (or “farangs” if you will). Maligool takes each school of thought provided by the many characters, and contrasts them playfully. A good example of this is the vignettes of Dr Narati and Dr Surapol trying to convince the locals on their opposing theories about the origins of the Fire Balls.??The contrasts in the film pose the question on what to believe in, traditional spiritual faith or modern day technological skepticism.

 

Friday, November 4th 2011

Which Way to the War?

2009, INDONESIA

Directed by Sue Useem

Indonesian with English Subtitles

 

At a time where religious violence seems to draw more media attention than ever, Which Way to the War? is a unique and exciting documentary that exposes the truth behind a conflict that lies and fear have fueled, with devastating consequences. American filmmaker Sue Useem, along with a crew of courageous Indonesian journalists and activists, went to great risks to collect the footage, interviews, and stories that make up the first ever documentary feature film on the Poso conflict in Indonesia during the decade from 1998 to 2008.

 

Instead of just taking one angle on the conflict, Which Way to the War? examines and analyzes the whole story behind the story of Poso, an extremely complex conflict, told by the people who lived through it. Generally cast as a "religious war" between militant groups of Protestants and Muslims that started by fighting between two drunken youths, one Protestant, one Muslim, this documentary identifies the causes and the conspirators who encouraged and armed groups of young men, readily mobilized by calls for religious solidarity at a time when political, economic, and religious stability in the Poso area was under threat.

 

Friday, November 11th 2011

Shape of the Moon

2004, INDONESIA

Directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich 

Indonesian and Javanese with English Subtitles 

 

Winner of IDFA's top feature prize and Sundance bound, Leonard Retel Helmrich's docu, "Shape of the Moon" reps an ambitious melange of ethnography, family drama and expressionist style. Focus is the same Jakarta-based matriarch, Rumidja Sjamsuddin, and her family featured in Dutch-Indonesian helmer's previous "Eye of the Day," here seen moving back to her home village after life in the city gets to be too much. Sometimes slow, but punctuated by breathtaking views, digi-shot "Moon" waxes brightly on a big screen and should draw more fests and upmarket broadcasters into its orbit, but is unlikely to have much theatrical pull.

 

As in "Eye" -- which along with "Moon" will form part of a projected trilogy -- Retel Helmrich's gaze aims to encompass the cosmic, the near-microscopic and everything in between. The human story encompasses marriage, relocation and cataclysm, the last repped by a ferocious fire, impressively filmed up close, that destroys a swathe of Jakarta's poorest district. The Main protagonist is Catholic widow Rumidja, who struggles with poverty, homesickness, and trying to accept the conversion of her maturing son, Bachtrar, aka Bakti, to Islam in order marry his Muslim girlfriend.. Rumidja is the main caretaker for granddaughter Theresia, aka Tari, a bright child of 10 or 11. Although the Sjamsuddin family remains the main focus, the doc takes in anti-U.S. protest marches and observes characters discussing Indonesia's inter-religious strife to add political and sociological dimension. Synopsis by Leslie Felperin http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117925880?refcatid=31

 

Friday, November 25th 2011

Baby Arabia

Panu Aree, Kaweenipon Ketrapasit, Kong Rithdee

2010, THAILAND

Thai with English Subtitles

 

BABY ARABIA follows one of the oldest Thai-Muslim bands specializing in the sub-cultural genre of Arab-Malay music – the bouncy ethnic cross-pollination of Arabian melodies, Malay throbs, Thai luk-thung kicks, and a bit of Latin tempo. We meet Geh, founder of the band who taught himself to play the accordion 35 year ago. Joining Geh is guitarist Umar (a former Koran teacher with a knack for Egyptian numbers). Fronting their band is Jamilah, a husky-voiced, humble diva who teaches the Koran during the day and sings Arabic songs at night while wondering if the world of melody can be both faith-bound and joyously secular.??Baby Arabia plays cover versions of classical and contemporary Arab and Malay music (though the band members do not speak those languages) and they've been touring Muslim communities around Bangkok and the Central Region for three decades. Though some Islamic scholars question their brand of worldly merry-making, claiming that it's against the law of the religion, the humanizing power of music and irresistible exuberance of their songs provide a definitive counter-argument (Review from the HIFF Spring Showcase) http://hiff.org/program/index.php/films/detail/baby_arabia_2010

 

Friday, December 9th 2011

The Legend of Lady Hill

2005, MYANMAR 

Directed by Yee Myint 

Burmese and English with English Subtitles 

 

The Legend of Lady Hill is a supernatural melodrama. When young rich city boy, Tun, visits the town Lady Hill and impetuously flirts with a pretty village girl named Thuzar he unknowingly disrupts a village spirit ceremony. When Thuzar’s husband dies in an accident that evening, she and the rest of the village believe it is the vengeful punishment of Ma Ma U, the protective spirit who guards the village. Thuzar and angry villagers blame the recalcitrant Tun and chase him from the village. Twenty years later the repercussions of this sad event are still being felt. When Tun’s son, La Min, visits the same village and meets the beautiful Pha-yaung Ban, all sorts of trouble befalls them. Have the spirits cursed this couple? Or are more terrestrial forces working to keep them apart?

 

The Legend of Lady Hill is a soap opera love story transfused with Buddhist ethics and Myanmar’s rich religious culture. Scenes rich with traditional music and religious ceremony will please those with an interest in Burmese culture.

 

Friday, December 23rd 2011

Bagong Buwan

2001, PHILIPPINES 

Directed by Marilou Diaz Abaya 

Filipino with English Subtitles 

 

Ahmad (Cesar Montano) is a Muslim who lives in Manila as a doctor. His wife Fatima (Amy Austria) and only son Ibrahim live in Mindanao with Ahmad’s mother, Farida. Ahmad is devastated when he is told that Ibrahim has been killed by a stray bullet fired by vigilantes. Returning home, Ahmad finds himself opposing his family’s wish to stay in their war-torn homeland. In spite of his son’s death, Ahmad still wants to live a peaceful life and insists that the best solution is for his family to move to Manila with him. Musa, Ahmad’s brother, disagrees. Musa believes that a war against the unbelievers is the only solution, and even trains his young son for a Muslim warrior’s life. An explosion near a public marketplace thrusts Ahmad and his loved ones into the center of a bloody conflict between Christians and Muslims, the government and the Moros. Montano’s performance garnered him a Best Actor nod for a Gawad Urian, the Pinoy equivalent of an Oscar.