Once Upon a Time in Mataram Bioskop

I remember a year ago, right before the first inception of JAFF (Jogja Asian Film Festival), I told an acquaintance of mine who lives and grows up in Jogja, Fajar Nugross, that if I were going for the indies distibution for my film, Bioskop Mataram would be one of my screening sites. I would have done it, because Fajar had done screening all of his films there. The 650 seats capacity would be plenty if the promotion tools are hitting the jackpot.

Tonight, I returned home, after the twelfth night of 'tarwih', resuming my reading of the DKJ grant proposal. I had put on my iPod and set it for Ennio Morricone's Once Upon a Time in America. Only two proposals left to be reviewed, but the sluggishness comes creeping in. I forced myself to review one and have my laptop session in between for catching up the latest email and scores of English Premiere League (Fuck ASTRO TV!!!).

Just regular a bunch of emails, until my eyes hit the subject "Akhirnya, Layar Bioskop itu Tergulung Jaman" sent through mailing list by Fajar Nugross. At the same time, as I didn't shuffle the album, the playlist hit the song no. 5, called Amapola. As I read through Fajar's writing, this music, from the scorer of Cinema Paradiso, sways sentimentally beautiful in the back of my head. Fajar's eloquent personal writing augments the emotion he is trying to convey through his (or perhaps our) loss.

(please have the time to read Fajar's writing above)

Perhaps, that's the journey of the last warrior in this new wild and cruel frontier, the Mohicans of the non-cineplex movie houses. Last year, the presence of this kind of theater would give a hope to filmmaker like myself, Fajar, and others who are still struggling for the existence. But now, the hope is fading away as the half-hearted film industry run by the fraud moguls are the one who has the last laughter. Despite the condition, the skirmishes to the last battle is still being fought.

Just like 'Noodle' let Patsy walking merrily in front of them, against the background of Brooklyn Bridge, with the hopeful future of their friendship depicted in "Once Upon a Time in America", this kind of movie house has also had many hopes fulfilled and shattered. However, many will only be able to share the memory of experiencing the grandeur, watching the the great film in the grand movie houses of the old days. Its love, romance, comedy, action, tears and joy are wrapped into one. Indeed, many nostalgias are now left in those empty seats that soon will belong to the scrapyard. Bon Voyage...