MONTASE’S SHORT: RECO
The short film Reco production is possibly the most intricate and intricate production we’ve ever experienced. This is related to the collaboration of this film project with the Film Development Center (Pusbangfilm), the Ministry of Education and Culture, in 2016. This film is also listed as a short film production with the highest budget, which is more than 30 million. Even though it was this big, the complicated bureaucracy made it no different; after all, some of the money was also used to pay for the crew and players, something we rarely did before, except for the players, of course. The vast production scale to the extended production time also takes up a large portion of the budget.
Initially, we used the Reco film idea to submit a short film for the Yogyakarta Cultural Service project, which is held annually. Stories, problems, and solutions must be unique, only in the Yogyakarta area, said the curator before submitting a proposal and pitching. We think Disbud is looking for films with local cultural and educational nuances. We then looked for story ideas for this purpose and not a film concept that we often make for film festivals that emphasize story exploration and aesthetics. It turned out that we were wrong; the curator was looking for a film with a festival concept. Of course, our idea was wrong. Not long after Pusbangfilm opened film funding, we submitted the Reco proposal without expectations, and it turned out to be accepted. For us, this is very surprising.
Reco’s story is based on real events that often occur in Yogyakarta and Central Java. The discovery of archaeological objects in their yards often becomes a conflict among residents. Not infrequently, they displace the land of the residents affected by the site area if it is proven that there is a large relic there. The film Reco discusses this, and the goal is for residents to know what to do if they find ancient objects found in their yards. To make it easier for citizens to accept, we package it with the comedy genre. For story research, we are not playing games. We also consulted with several lecturers from the Archeology Study Program, Gajah Mada University, and the Central Java Cultural Heritage Conservation Agency (BPCB). Not only consulting stories (this idea was initially from them) and more detailed things, such as artifacts found by residents, to SOPs if this happened. Everything in the plot is the actual procedure when an ancient object is located.
There are not many production problems because we have repeatedly worked with the players in this film, who are located in Ngablak, Magelang. If readers have watched our short Nyumbang (2015), you could say Reco is the sequel. We borrowed the figures of Pak Bejo and his wife to be the catalyst for the story in this film, and the results turned out to be very good. To date, we have been in production with them, recorded more than 5x. Only this time, there were more people involved in various locations. There is no problem with the players and the production process, except for the complicated bureaucracy on the part of the project provider, which, to be honest, has dramatically affected the production of the film.
The film Reco is technically far from perfect, but this film can convey its message well. We have also submitted this film to the Archeology Study Program of UGM and BPCB, which we have allowed to be used in lecture activities and outreach to the public. They need this kind of film to provide knowledge for ordinary people, especially those in cultural heritage areas. Hopefully, this film’s distribution on our Youtube channel can also provide experience for parties or residents who need it.
We also produced another version of the Reco story with a festival approach and concept through a short entitled Arca (2015). The plot’s main plot is the same, only this time we package it in the horror-political genre, located in only one house. This film has also received good appreciation at several international film festivals with its visual language and unclear storytelling. We produce Arca with a budget of only less than 1 million, far from Reco. As filmmakers, we certainly have to be wise in choosing and packaging stories and the purpose of a film. For us, the real medium of film is to be watched and enlighten many people rather than to satisfy only a few people.
