The best of ten years of WCA

This year the tenth edition of World Cinema Amsterdam (WCA) takes place. We see returning visitors every year. Two of these guests are Untung & Fiona. We asked them what it is that makes them so excited about the film festival and what they expect from the tenth edition.

Untung: The passion of the organisation and the filmmakers themselves. The film festival shows that you don’t need much money to make a beautiful film that has impact. The budget for the film Iglú (Diego Ruiz, Chili, WCA 2014) was, I believe, only five thousand dollars, the actors were mostly family and the locations where at home. Those movies are most surprising.

Fiona: There is a kind of film rush that everyone feels; it is super fun every year. And it is getting more fun because we get to know the employees more and more.

Untung: This is a very difficult question. Fortunately, Fiona keeps a booklet in which we write down all films, with comments. From that list and my memories, two films come to mind: Iglú and Burning (Lee Chang-dong, Zuid-Korea, WCA 2018). Iglú is a great film because of the enormous creativity of the filmmaker. With a very limited budget, the crew that consisted of friends and family and the dog of his grandfather and grandmother, he really put down a great film.

Fiona: It is a super creative rollercoaster that takes you through all the emotions of the characters. Terribly well done.

Untung: And the other mindblowing film was Burning. The viewer is drawn into the story and put on a track that makes the plot come as a total surprise. Similar to the book The Darkroom of Damocles.

Fiona: And El Bella Vista (Alicia Cano, Uruguay, WCA 2014), because this was such an original concept, which also had a very connecting effect, the director explained. The film is about a community centre, which in turn functioned as a football club, "base" for transvestites and then catechization class. She had the original visitors replay their own story, and only one role played by an actor. 

Untung: The variation, the personal stories and the beautiful images take you around the world for ten days. Every year is a unique experience. You do not only make new film friends, but also speak with the filmmakers. From young directors from Chile, to almost royalty from Niger (The Wedding Ring, Rahmatou Keita, WCA 2017).

Fiona: I find it a very addictive experience every year. The range of films is so incredibly varied; sweet, raw, intense, beautiful, creative, moving, gripping, intense, elusive, mindblowing, and so on. And most of them have an insanely high level of quality (I make a film top 10 every year and almost half of it comes from the WCA programme). Often the smaller productions are very strong and creative and are otherwise not seen at all.

Pooh, what a question. Something with adoption is obvious, but no. There is so much going on in Indonesia, topics that can be addressed in films: corruption, the dominance of the Javanese culture over the other islands. Or the monoculture in agriculture such as palm oil that causes environmental disasters, displaces the orang-utan, and takes people their property. The ethnic inequality between the different people on the islands such as in Banda Aceh, and the taboo on political killings in the 1950’s can be seen in the films The Act of Killing en The Look of Silence.

But also special films such as those that focus on Pencak Silat, The Raid 1 and 2, the working conditions in the sulphur mines in East Java, special fauna such as the Komodo dragon on Flores and the ever-present threat of volcanoes, the sinking city of Jakarta that will be abandoned and finally the fate of thousands of children in Indonesia who are not recognised by their father, because the biological father is separated from the mother and children can only be recognised by their biological parents.

You see, too many themes that all require attention and touch me because it is my home country. If I still have to make a choice, then I choose the fate of the thousands of unrecognised children. I know about it through Indonesian friends, but am looking forward to more information. It touches me because my identity is also a construct. I formally have a birth date and a name, but it was chosen, just to make the papers. This is why my nickname is Untung and not Jeroen (formal) and my birthday is June 18 (day I came to the orphanage) and not December 25 (following the Catholic nun).

Fiona: We had already seen several films from Cuba ­­­– also from the Go Cuba! programme – before we went. La obra del siglo (Carlos Quintela, WCA 2016), for example, was the reason we did our best to go to Jagua and have a look at the nuclear power plant. We could not reach it, only from afar, but we found the place Jagua (in retrospect) very well reflecting what you see in the film. Or at least, what we have taken out of it; the socialist dream image behind the whole plan and what it is today. Broad streets with almost no traffic at all (a single moped, an old horse for a decayed car), unfinished flats where time just goes on and everyone who manages to, goes somewhere else. Somewhere in the distance, that nuclear power plant is puckering, but there is too much police, and people really do not dare to let you go there.

And yes, certainly now that we have been to Cuba, we are going to watch the Go Cuba! films again. Also because we were accompanied by a guide who told a considerably more extensive story on the bus than outside the bus (that is, how he and his surroundings experience Cuba, and how it is now).

Untung:  Again many new, beautiful, compelling and sweet films! And special screenings, which hopefully attract a wider audience, because they are purchased. And of course the food! Selemat makan!

Fiona: Well actually just more of the same! The only thing we could appreciate are more screenings within the same programme, and especially more during the day. We have discussed this with Raymond (festival director) and he explained why this is difficult. We understand that very well. But hey, just drop your wish list. We take every year off for the festival (which actually makes it our first honeymoon this year…). We would like to start earlier so we have less stress and can go through the programme more relaxed. We hope for a lot of fun again, tasty snacks, fun parties and, above all, lots of great films from all over the world! We are already looking forward to it.