Film festival is always my favourite

The thing is, all film festivals showcase shortlist films - which means, the films screened are thoroughly selected from the best. Being a resident of Melbourne for more than two years, this year is my third in celebrating Indonesian Film Festival (IFF). Turns out, it's the 9th year for the festival. My, my..it's amazing to know how Indonesian films have been celebrated in Melbourne far before I came to study in this bustling city.

What makes this year's IFF more special is because this is the year where I sort of building up my career. As a present for my loyalty for the media I'm currently working in - that is, the fabulous OZIP - God gave me a special gift. I was appointed as the assistant for the new editor. And of course, new responsibilities follow my new position. I've been entrusted to take care some of the regular pages as well as organising workloads among our team to cover monthly events.

Hmm..how does the two relate - the film festival and my career - you ask? Well folks, OZIP is the regular media partner of IFF. Therefore, our team gets a lot of perks. We're talking about free movie tickets, press conferences and one-on-one interviews with the festival's guests. And also, the editor appointed me to handle IFF's coverage. Which means... (go figure!)

So yeah, if someone asked me how has my week been, I would answer - with such an annoying high-pitched giggle - that IT HAS BEEN GREAT!

Endless film screenings and interviews. All piles up into four film reviews and hmm..let's just say a number of articles. I'm tired indeed, but happy! And as I said, journalists get a lot of perks. There I was a couple of times entered the theatre with a tag that reads MEDIA STAFF dangling around my neck. And I sat on the VIP row with the festival's guests beside me: critics, commentators, directors, producers, writers, and actors.

Surely, this is something that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been a journalist. Apart from writing for OZIP Magazine, I'm also writing for a local organisation's blog. A friend of mine from the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association (AIYA) Victoria branch kindly asked whether I would like to write a film review for their website. I said yes. I'd be mad if I didn't take the chance to get my name printed (or in this case, posted on a website)!

I found this a good opportunity to hone my writing skill. Also, I was thinking to myself: why don't I post the reviews on my blog? I know what a daft question it was. Anyway, as I said, this gave me the idea to publish all reviews from the movie I saw:

Something in the Way
- directed by Teddy Soeriaatmadja (Lovely Man, Rumah Maida, Banyu Biru)

What They Don't Talk When They Talk About Love
- directed by Mouly Surya (Fiksi)

2014
- directed by Rahabi Mandra & Hanung Bramantyo (Soekarno, Perahu Kertas, Tanda Tanya, Ayat-Ayat Cinta - I bet there'll be more to come)

Street Society
- directed by Awi Suryadi (Loe Gue End, I Know What You Did on Facebook, Claudia/Jasmine)

And there's actually one more film I saw, 99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa. However, since this movie was a hit earlier this year in the home country - and I bet there's thousands of review went published already - I decided to just drop it. So, movie-goers (or maybe not), embrace yourself for film review posts ahead!


// picture taken from iffaustralia.com