From July 1 to 3, 2010, Amandari, a tranquil resort overlooking the verdant Ayung River gorge on the fringes of Ubud, will host a viewing of heritage films of Bali in conjunction with the French Cinémathèque of Dance and the Swedish Dance Museum. The fims focus on the theme of dance, with rarely seen screenings of Rolf de Maré, a Swede who compiled outstanding footage of dance from Indonesia in the 1930s.
Films will be screened in Kedewatan’s village wantilan, or open-air meeting place, adjacent to Amandari. Each evening’s showcase will feature two films with an intermission in between.
The first film on July 1 is Goona Goona (a.k.a. The Kris) from 1932, which runs for 65 minutes. It was directed by Armand Denis and André Roosevelt. This film, when it was shown in New York in the 1930s, became a huge success and put Bali on the international map.
A parallel will be drawn between Bali and Harlem in the ’30s. While the Bali film was sweeping New Yorkers away, the Nicholas Brothers, child dancers from Harlem, were the stars of the Cotton Club. Both Bali and Harlem nightclub life inspired the artist Miguel Covarrubias. This screening will be combined with a 45-minute montage of the Nicholas Brothers’ most sublimely virtuoso moments.
On July 2, Amandari will screen a film of Rolf de Maré’s 1938 expedition to Nias, Sulawesi, Sunda, Java and Bali preceded by a short montage of photographs of de Maré presented by Erik Naslund. This runs 90 minutes.
The film will be shown in two parts with musical accompaniment by two or four musicians. This unique document seldom travels and will probably never be shown again in Indonesia for technical reasons: the films are now too fragile. The evening will be presented by Erik Naslund, director of the Dansmuseet of Stockholm, Sweden and author of a biography of Rolf de Maré.
The final day sees the screening of Island of Bali—La Isla de Bali, from 1930, which runs 60 minutes and was directed by Miguel Covarrubias. This screening will be preceded by a documentary on the life and works of Covarrubias, the Mexican caricaturist, author and painter. This film is an edited compilation of footage taken by his wife, Rose Covarrubias, in 1930 and 1937. It covers every aspect of Balinese life following the chapters of the famous book Island of Bali, which was a best-seller in the United States before the war.
You may also like
