Pontyanus Gea (46) adds color to Indonesian cinema. Over the past decade, he has consistently used the languages of Nias and Batak Toba in his films.
By
Elsa Emiria Leba
·5 minutes read
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Pontyanus Gea
Pontyanus Gea (46) adds color to Indonesian cinema. Over the past decade, he has consistently used the languages of Nias and Batak Toba in his films. Thanks to his works, the Nias and Batak Toba people can enjoy films that tell their own stories in their mother tongue.
In the past, the faces of Indonesian cinemas tended to represent urban society, especially that of Jakarta. The narratives, lifestyles and even the fantasies raised in the films tended to be extracted from city dwellers.
Many of the characters in films — some of them Indonesians with European blood — speak Indonesian with a Jakarta dialect. The narratives, lifestyles and fantasies of people in small towns and villages are almost completely out of the picture.
As film production spread to the regions in the last one or two decades, we can witness fictional films produced by communities that tell stories of local people in local languages. This phenomenon appears in a number of areas far from Jakarta as the epicenter of the commercial film industry, such as in Makassar, Aceh, Bukittinggi, Lombok, Biak and Nias.
These films are screened at festivals, community events, schools, YouTube channels or sold in the form of video compact discs (VCD). Some have successfully penetrated the 21 Cinema network, such as Uang Panai, produced by a filmmaker from Makassar. This film was able to compete with films produced in Jakarta, even Hollywood, at the time by selling more than 500,000 cinema tickets.
Pontyanus Gea, who is usually called Ponti Gea, is one of the filmmakers emerging from the growing regional film movement. In 2009, he produced his first film series in the Nias language, namely Ono Sitefuyu (The Heretic Child). The 11-episode film made a huge splash in North Sumatra. The VCD sold nearly 500,000 copies.
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Pontyanus Gea (right) speaking with the Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly (center). Laoly was an extra in the film "Sang Prawira" by Ponti Gea.
His second film in Batak Toba language, Anak Sasada (The Only Child, 2011), sold around 100,000 copies. Since then, he has continued to produce films in Nias and Batak Toba languages, which are now also broadcast on local television or YouTube channels.
The film produced by Ponti is popular among the Nias and Batak Toba people, because it has strong local elements and is spoken in their mother tongue. The filmmakers and actors are local youth.
“I often use daily life as the theme. I focus a story on people’s daily life, not on an illusion. People are very touched by stories of this kind, because they also experience and feel them," said Ponti on Friday (26/3/2021), from Nias.
I often use daily life as the theme. I focus a story on people’s daily life, not on an illusion.
Ponti\'s films come with Indonesian subtitles. Some are given an English translation. Ponti\'s career as a director and producer has not progressed without challenges. The popularity of YouTube as a digital video channel made his films not as popular as they used to be. Lately, his films only sold around 20,000-25,000 VCD copies. Even so, he didn\'t give up. He continues to make Nias and Batak Toba language films under a film company he founded, PT Molakhomi Ria Gea.
In 2019, he received an offer from the North Sumatra Police to direct Sang Prawira, which is designed for a wider audience. The film, which tells the story of a young man from North Sumatra who wants to become a police officer, features several high-ranking public figures, such as Ganjar Pranowo, Yasonna Laoly, Luhut Pandjaitan and Tito Karnavian.
Then came the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced Ponti to stop working for several months. It was only in August 2020 that he began making another film series entitled The Jungle Boys: The Hidden Treasure of the Island, which is being broadcast on the Okeflix streaming film service.
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Pontyanus Gea
Traveled to Europe
Ponti was born in a poor farming family in Onowaembo Idanoi village, Nias. His childhood was tough. Ponti\'s father died when he was three years old. Ponti also only received formal education up to the second grade of elementary school.
To make ends meet for the family, Ponti worked as a village courier when he was eight years old. He would walk the 7 kilometers from his village to the town of Gunungsitoli to transport sap, rubber and coconuts and return home with basic necessities.
Growing up as a teenager, he moved to the city of Sibolga, where he sold newspapers, cigarettes or drove a rickshaw to earn money. "I lived on sidewalks for about 11 years," said Ponti, who then traveled to Medan.
In Italy, I also studied film in Rome while working part-time. I studied computers, how to edit and make video clips.
Armed with the English language skills he learned from tourists in Sibolga, he became a freelance tour guide in 1995. He also served as a driver and concierge at several companies until the early 2000s.
Ponti, who joined a religious organization from Italy, had the opportunity to travel to Europe. There, he studied religion, culture, was involved in religious ministry and attended several training courses. “In Italy, I also studied film in Rome while working part-time. I studied computers, how to edit and make video clips,” said Ponti.
Returning to Indonesia in 2007, he applied his knowledge about filmmaking obtained from Italy. He spent his savings from Europe to finance film projects, which ranged from Rp 100 million to Rp 500 million per film. Some of the funds came from his wife.
Regardless of the quality of the films he produced, Ponti is credited with bringing narratives about Nias and Batak Toba to the stage of Indonesian cinema. So far, he is alone in the struggle to develop Nias films, but he hopes the local administration will help build the Nias film industry ecosystem.
Pontyanus Gea
Born: Gunungsitoli, 4 May 1974 Wife: Emilia Sarumaha (deceased)
Education: - State elementary school SD Onowaembo Idanoi, Gunungsitoli Idanoi district - Various training in Europe
Job: - Film director and producer - Director of PT Molakhomi Ria Gea
