Alex Nibley, assistant professor of digital cinema at Utah Valley University, spent three weeks in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on a Fulbright grant. He worked with Indonesian universities to develop strategic plans for improving filmmaking curriculum and teaching methods.
The workshops were sponsored by the Indonesian Film Board and the Fulbright Specialists Program of the United States Department of State.
From July 10-29, Nibley conducted three one-week workshops — one each in screenwriting, film production, and cinematic directing. At the end of each workshop, the Indonesian faculty created a strategic plan for improving curriculum design and pedagogical approaches for their schools.
The faculty participating in the workshops represented Indonesian film schools from many different areas of the country, including Eastern, Central, and Western Java, as well as schools in Sumatra.
Much of the focus in the workshops was on how Indonesian teachers can adopt an “experiential learning” approach to teaching filmmaking. According to Nibley,
Indonesian film programs tend to be based on a critical analysis approach. For teaching the craft and artistic aspects of filmmaking, hands-on training is more effective. It is the difference between reading cookbooks and actually getting into the kitchen.
“In our workshops, we were able to introduce Indonesian filmmaking faculty to experiential teaching approaches they can use in the classroom immediately,” Nibley said. “Reactions from student teachers participating in the workshops were strong, with many teachers expressing enthusiasm for adopting experiential teaching techniques into their current classes and also designing new courses to expand the filmmaking programs at their universities.
“There remain substantial challenges to building more effective filmmaking education and a more robust filmmaking industry in Indonesia. The mere size and diversity of the archipelago, along with ingrained administrative systems built on an educational model more amenable to scientific or academic research, can be barriers to rapid change.”
In addition to the training workshops, there was also discussion of potential future cooperative ventures between Indonesian and American filmmaking education and professional production.
“We are already discussing working together in the future,” Nibley said. “We have some very interesting projects, both educational and professional, that could put the spotlight on filmmaking in Indonesia in a way it has never experienced before.”
