A film is an audio visual medium to transfer a message. Indonesian films cannot be underestimated since many Indonesians made films attracting the world’s attention. Noticing the fact, Indonesian Film Reviewer Association (Kafein) collaborating with Department of Communication Sciences of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) firstly organized Indonesia Film Conference and Plenary Session 1 on Tuesday-Thursday (28-31/8) at Amphitheater of Building of K.H. Ibrahim of UMY.

In the opening conference on Tuesday (28/8), one of the speakers Dr. Seno Gumira Ajidarma, S.Sn., M.Hum. told that this conference was a notable moment for a film reviewer association. “A film review is not a criticism but it is research,” he declared.

Seno, who is also Rector of the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), explained there are differences between reviewers and critics. The critics often put themselves as people who understand everything since their duty is to consider and to determine the good and bad of a film. Nevertheless, the film critics are an essential part of a film promotion. “They exist as a socio-cultural discourse, to offset a promotion which is full of manipulation, and to get distance closer when a film presents a new and unfamiliar visual language. On the other hand, film reviewers will examine, learn, and review so that they are considered more modest. They believe that, as long as they learn, investigate, test, and review, they are not an expert yet,” maintained Seno.

He also conveyed the significance of media literacy for public. “People of all ages often watch media. They may not be forbidden to watch, but they have to know what they watch. Thus, conducting research examining the issues is necessary to find our strategic ways to educate the people. The researcher need to expand the study of methods to investigate a film through various discussions, references, or histories so that the film criticism is not based on the instincts,” emphasized Seno.

In addition, Seno expected that community can have media literacy because what is being witnessed is a repeated message. “Public may not come to conclusion immediately, even though they like what they watch as the like is a personal factor, and that is just an objective view of the people,” he added.