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We are thrilled to host Nia Dinata, Indonesian Filmmaker and Social Change Activist as one of our 2011 Honorees. Ms. Dinata will also be teaching a course as part of the Institute.
Nia Dinata was born on March 4, 1970 in Jakarta, Indonesia. She graduated with a Mass Communications degree from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. Nia then participated in special programs on film production at New York University. Since returning to Indonesia in 1995, Nia has worked on various projects, mostly for television. In 1998 she won an award in The Indonesian Film for TV Festival for Best Picture and Best Drama for a 90-minute television drama entitled Mencari Pelangi (In Search for the Rainbow). Since then, Nia has directed various TV programs, TV ,commercials and music videos.
Nia’s first feature film debut was a semi colossal epic titled Ca Bau Kan (The Courtesan) which was produced in 2001. Ca Bau Kan is a film based on the novel by a prominent Indonesian writer, Remy Sylado. Ca Bau Kan is the first movie that revolves around the Chinese community in Indonesia after the Indonesian reform era. For Ca Bau Kan, Nia won an award for Best Promising New Director in the Asia Pacific Film Festival, Seoul, Korea in 2002. The film also won Best Art Director in the same festival. In 2003, Ca Bau Kan was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to be screened for a candidate of Foreign Film nomination at the Oscar.
In April 2002, she produced a film titled Biola Tak Berdawai (or The Stringless Violin). This film is a debut by an independent Indonesian woman director, Sekar Ayu Asmara.
In 2003, Nia directed Arisan! (The Gathering), a satirical comedy with a screenplay written by Nia herself and Joko Anwar. Arisan! received countless rave reviews around the world for its boldness in portraying gay characters in Indonesia (the largest Muslim country) and has won audiences’ heart for its heartwarming sincerity. The film won numerous awards in film festivals in Indonesia. In the Cinemasia Film Festival in Amsterdam 2004, Arisan! won Best Film. In the Asian American International Film Festival in New York 2004, the film was nominated for the Annual Emerging Director Award. The film was officially selected at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Turin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, among others. At the MTV Indonesian Movie Awards in 2004 the film won Best Picture, Best Director and Most Favorite Supporting Actor. In the Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) in 2004, the film won Best Film, Best Editing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor. Arisan! Has been screened in more than fifty film festivals around the world.
In May 2004, for the 20th anniversary of Fonds Sud Cinéma, together with the French Foreign Affairs Minister and festival de Cannes; Nia was invited to join the Cannes Young Directors Program. In June 2004, Nia was selected as one of the jurors for the French Film Festival in Indonesia.
In April 2005 she produced a feature film titled Janji Joni (Joni’s Promise). The movie was released in April 2005. This is the debut for Joko Anwar (co-writer of Arisan!) as a director. Besides her passion in directing, Nia also believes in the potential of other young Indonesian filmmakers. With an independent production company she owns, Kalyana Shira Films, Nia has a commitment to developing interesting scripts and producing more quality Indonesian films. “Janji Joni” has won several awards, including Best Movie at the MTV Indonesia Movie Awards and Best Editing in the Asia Pacific Film Festival. It has also screened in many film festivals around the world, including the Asian American International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, and an upcoming screening at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
With her latest film, Love for Share (Berbagi Suami, 2006), Nia prooves herself to be the leading Indonesian woman director who is bravely tackling sensitive issue such as polygamy in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. The film was in competition for Best International Narative Feature in the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, New York. Love For Share won the Halekulani Golden Award for Best Pictures in Hawaii International Film Festival 2006. At the 2006 Cannes festival, Love for Share was chosen to be one of the films from the Asia Pacific region to be sponsored for its market screening by The French Foreign Ministry, in conjunction with the Cinema du Sud pavillion. Nia won Best Director for Love For Share at the 34th International Independent Film Festival Brussels in 2007.
Nia’s produced a dramatic comedy Quickie Express in 2007 and also produced four short films by first-time women film directors (including one of her own) Chants of Lotus (Perempuan Punya Cerita) in January 2008. Nia’s produced Soccer Trouble (Gara-Gara Bola) in 2008 with Happy Ending Pictures, a new division of Kalyana Shira Films.
Nia’s latest production is a documentary feature Pertaruhan (At Stake). It’s the first Indonesian documentary to be selected at the prestigious Panorama section at the Berlin International Film Festival. She is commited to continue producing narrative and documentary feature to give more choices for the Indonesian audience. She also founded KidsfFest, an International Film Festival for children which will be launched in July 2009. As for her passion in writing screenplay and directing, she is in the process of developing her new feature film. Besides being a film maker, Nia has written various columns in major news paper about social and political issues, including Kompas, and has her own “Apolitis” column in Kompas where she shares her thought about democracy and the coming election.
Drop by Drop: Water Stories, a video contest for youth created by the Social Change Film Festival & Institute (SCFFI), Channel G and EarthvisionZ, is now accepting submissions.