JABAR EKSPRES – European Union (EU) Ambassador to Indonesia, Vincent Piket, sees the Europe on Screen (EoS) Film Festival as a venue for cultural communication between Europe and Indonesia, especially regarding film production.
Piket emphasized that international relations between Europe and Indonesia should not always be seen from the political to economic fields, but also need to be seen in the cultural field.
“I think this film festival is one of the ways to reach Indonesian people. This (EoS festival) is not political, it’s not diplomacy or trade. It’s a communication between European culture, including film production, and the audience in Indonesia,” Piket said during a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.
According to Piket, the relationship in the field of culture between Europe and Indonesia is very important to support the birth of new filmmakers in Indonesia. This has been realized by EoS through the Short Film Pitching Project, a funding program for short films, which is held annually.
In addition to the funding program, the EoS festival also presents workshops by European practitioners and filmmakers in the hope of inspiring Indonesian filmmakers.
Piket said that the European film industry is currently experiencing a dynamic increase. This is also marked by an increase in the number of film productions and moviegoers after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Moviegoers (in Europe) rose in 2022 by 65 percent compared to the previous year. In other words, we are almost back, in terms of numbers, to what we were before the COVID-19 pandemic. And of course also in terms of revenue,” he said.
Piket said he was optimistic about the increase in productivity and creativity in the European film industry after going through the difficult period of the pandemic. He also feels proud to be able to present European films that can be seen by Indonesian audiences through the EoS festival.