Mobile Cinema

During the dictatorship of Indonesia’s New Order regime (1966-1998), local exploitation films, layar tancap (traveling cinema) and its spectators were marginalised by legitimate culture.  For example, layar tancap shows were framed to only operate in rural and suburban areas and were policed with several strict policies. Nonetheless, in this paper, I will demonstrate that layar tancap shows and their rural audiences are signs of cultural resistance which challenges legitimate culture, and that exploitation movies were a significant part of the process. By observing the New Order’s film policies as well as general and trade magazines, I will investigate why and how this kind of cinema operated as displays of classic Indonesian exploitation movies - the films the New Order was actually trying to eliminate - and how they generated a unique subculture of rural spectatorship. Here, I also want to highlight how various kinds of politics of taste - from the government to the rural spectators and the layar tancap entrepreneurs - interplayed in relation with local exploitation films, its rural audiences, and its culture of exhibition.

Il saggio analizza  due importanti innovazioni avvenute nel cinema negli ultimi anni, e che hanno impattato sopratutto nella distribuzione dei contenuti audiovisivi: da un lato lʼemergere di tecnologie di produzione e proiezione 3D in grado di fornire unʼesperienza sempre più immersiva del prodotto filmico, e, dallʼaltro, la moltiplicazione degli spazi, degli schermi e dei contesti di fruizione del film, dovuta alla possibilità di veicolare il video su diverse piattaforme e devices, dallo schermo del cinema e quelli, mobili e interattivi, del telefonino.
In particolare, sarà interessante osservare come queste due direttrici di innovazione possano essere interpretate come approcci profondamente diversi allʼesperienza cinematografica, interpreti di istanze del cinema che potremmo definire antitetiche, dal punto di vista estetico e fruitivo.
Il saggio esplora così queste due forme tecnologiche del cinema in relazione ai divergenti modelli di fruizione che esse veicolano e alle possibili implicazioni sui linguaggi e le estetiche del futuro.

Indonesia’s New Order Government (1966-1998)  is notorious with its state-control of every aspect of life.  In the film industry, the government applied sharp censorship and controlled film production by controlling the script and film bodies as well as distribution and exhibition.  (Sen 1992; Heider 1991, Jufry 1992, Said 1991).
How did New Order and its policies value and deal with the subculture of Layar Tancap (open air cinema) or bioskop keliling (mobile cinema shows)? According to Katinka van Heeren, Layar Tancap shows were out of New Order’s radar until 1993 (van Heeren 2012, 33), the year  the government finally acknowledged and formalized Perfiki (Persatuan Perusahaan Pertunjukan Film Keliling Indonesia, or the Union of Indonesian Mobile Cinema Show)

According to van Heeren and Krishna Sen, although its spectatorship is important to note, but no  specific official policies was applied ; and no  data was collected by The Indonesian Statistical Bureau, for this open air cinema (Sen 1994). The Indonesian Statistical Bureau (PBS, Pusat Biro Statistik) only covered numbers from ordinary cinemas  in the  big cities  (Sen 1994, 72).
By observing New Order’s film policies as well as general and trade magazines, I will investigate van Heeren’s claims above.  I will argue the opposite: Suharto’s government tried to frame this kind of distribution and exhibition cultures, long before 1993, precisely because the villagers were one of their important assets considering that they were the majority of Indonesian citizens.  I will also focus on how the practice and consumption of Layar Tancap and policies of New Order government interact, negotiate, and influence each other.