John Badalu (in this photo and the one below) as photographed by Nicholas Snow during the Q Film Festival in Bali, Indonesia in August of 2009.
Nicholas Snow's Notes From The World: John Badalu—Transforming Indonesian Society with Queer Cinema
Eight years ago, seven freelance journalists who were sick of only having Hollywood films on screens in Indonesia decided to import cinema, and since most of them were “queer,” the Q Film Festival was born in Jakarta. Q Fest as it is called turned eight years old this past August, and for the fourth year in a row has also taken place in Bali as well where I caught up with one of the founders, Executive Director John Badalu.
“When I mention to friends that there’s a gay film festival in Indonesia, they’re shocked,” I told John. “What sort of stereotypes can you counteract about Indonesia?”
“First of all, people would be shocked because it’s like the most populated Muslim country, but it’s not really a country based on religion,” he explained. “Here, there are five legal religions admitted by the government, so I guess that’s why people say, ‘Oh my god. There’s a gay film festival in Indonesia. It must be really something.’ But actually, if you see Indonesia, it’s not like Middle Eastern countries. The Islamic law is secondary. It’s a republic here. I guess people don’t know that much about this. And then, of course, there are always stereotypical things about queer people in Asia… But at the same time it is very different, for there are a lot of gay guys for example, queer people, who are Muslim, who are quite religious but at the same time quite comfortable with their sexuality.”
This is not to be confused with Muslim law which prevails in extreme, isolated parts of Indonesia, including one region that sparked international outrage by condoning of the stoning to death of homosexuals—this debate rages as the story further develops. But it makes it even more astounding that John and his colleagues have been running a queer film festival in the same country for almost a decade.
I asked John to dispel myths about Muslims in Indonesia. He explained, “For example, homosexuality is definitely a sin in Islamic Koran…but at the same time you have all of these Islamic schools where it is only one gender usually…we all know it’s not a secret that boys screw around in that kind of Islamic school even…”
One way Q Fest has gotten around traditional norms and the film censors is to show their movies underground in non-cinema spaces, particularly in cultural venues—but they also cannot charge for tickets. “Our festival is kind of half underground, half above the ground so it’s not really a typical film festival,” John explained.
With the festivals growth, the government is noticing more, and since the festival now screens in cinemas, they have the censors to contend with. However, all of the movies have passed the censors, because only the films which programmers believe will pass the censors are submitted. The more controversial films are still reserved for the non-regulated cultural venues.
Q Fest now has annual grant monies but John and his team stopped accepting some funding that had too many strings attached. Who finances that world travel required to program films? Serendipitously, in his “day job” John is the international publicist for Indonesian films which he represents at film festivals throughout the world, enabling him to also screen queer cinema for possible inclusion in Q Fest.
About what he finds fulfilling, John expressed, “I just love to see people are really interested in the kinds of films we choose to program in our festival, but also at the same time, I am quite happy that people have started to recognize Indonesian films abroad. “
I wondered, “What about the state of gay civil rights in Indonesia?”
“There’s no such thing,” John responded, “but we also don’t have any law against homosexuality… So far, it’s quite okay. We are not like Malaysia or Singapore. We are not like India, but India is now already liberated let’s say. We don’t have that.”
Next question, “Is the queer community in Indonesia in need of anything?”
“For sure,” John replied. “We need for example the rights to work. There is a lot of discrimination in the work place, but also because 99% of queer people in Indonesia are not out so that’s always a big problem. If they want to ask for the same rights as heterosexuals in the work place they need to come out first. But that’s still more like a long way to go it seems… If you are not out or if you don’t plan to come out, you can still find a nice life over here.”
Many would call the actions of John and his team heroic, but they all began this quest in a very matter-of-fact way. “We just decided, ‘okay this will be fun.’ We thought it was just like a hobby. We did it in our spare time but now it is taking 70% of my time. But at the beginning, we never thought that it would become very big like this.”
I am personally surprised that these great agents of social change do not in fact see themselves in that light. As a film buff, John likes to see people watch movies in public spaces rather than on DVD while secluded in their homes, and he relishes the community-building that occurs in the group setting. “I would like people to get inspired by watching the films we show in the festival.”
He has Indonesians coming out to the movies, but as far as coming out of the closet is concerned, John advises, “You just have to be true to yourself, really to know yourself first, especially in the journey of coming out. It’s a lot of hassles or worries but you really need to know where you are from, what your background is like, and what you really want to do. I don’t encourage everyone to come out. You have to know yourself.”
I personally encourage, in honor of John and his colleagues that you go see a racy movie in a public space, acknowledging the freedom in having the right to do so and oh yes, visit www.qfilmfestival.org.
This column presents stories of courage, strength and hope of individuals worldwide who are passionately involved in the struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered civil rights as well as the battle against HIV/AIDS, demonstrating how these issues are inseparable from the overall fight for human rights for everyone. In addition, the column infuses travel and entertainment reporting into the mix to not only celebrate the freedoms that exist for many of us, but to contrast these freedoms against the dark realities of individuals living in more oppressed situations where sometimes their very lives are at risk. More columns...
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