National Film and Production Crew
In commemoration of National Film Day on March 30, 2025, the Cultural Media Center of the Ministry of Culture produced a Public Service Announcement created to appreciate the film industry professionals. On this occasion, Minister of Culture Dr. Fadli Zon, M. Sc expressed appreciation for the film workers who have strived to realize national films that are not only educational but also entertaining and valuable. Our national films are based on the cultural diversity of the nation that should be conveyed to all corners of the world. Film as a tool of cultural diplomacy aligns with our efforts to preserve and maintain the extraordinary stories of our country.
The concept presented in this Public Service Announcement is to showcase the atmosphere of filming on a movie production set. The symbolism intended to be conveyed is how the hard work and smart efforts of the production crew in producing a quality film begin with stages that are also guaranteed in quality. As a system, the production crew has responsibilities in the production flow of a film. There is no small or big role in the production process; everyone has a share.
National Film Day serves as a reflection for us in the film industry. Looking back at how the moment of March 30 is commemorated every year as National Film Day. March 30 was chosen because it marks the first day of shooting for the film Blood and Prayer directed by Usmar Ismail on March 30, 1950. This film is agreed upon as a historical milestone as the first film directed and produced by Indonesians. In producing a film, it is certainly underpinned by the same spirit from all production crew members. In the past, the crew of Blood and Prayer was driven by a burning spirit of struggle because it raised the theme of a struggle whose original events had not occurred long before, intended as propaganda for international diplomacy that the Indonesian nation was finally free from the shackles of the Dutch who attempted to colonize again.
If we consider our films as a recorded journey of the nation that is documented and visualized again, then whatever the genre of the film, it is a contribution to the life and journey of the Indonesian nation. Film industry professionals and their production teams are agents that serve as bridges between generations. They, with integrity and vision, attempt to transfer the realities and facts of everyday life into a recorded form that can be enjoyed and learned simultaneously by future generations who watch it again. The passion and determination of the film crew when transforming real life into another form require extraordinary effort. Maintaining the essence and soul of the film to keep it alive even though the medium has changed will result in a work that represents its era to be conveyed to future generations.
How can life in the past be felt by future generations? Making a film is not just about recording scenes and dialogues, but also sharing the spirit of the era of that generation. A skilled production crew can cleverly transfer the spirit of a generation to be showcased to other generations. We, who are bound by the same culture, will see the common spirit even though we have been separated by generations. All of this is because of the recorded life that is manifested in a film.
Continue to create and present quality films to strengthen the same spirit in every generation. The spirit of building the nation through film, because in the hands of the younger generation as the spearhead, the progress of the nation is at stake.
Indonesian films reflect the culture of the nation, Happy National Film Day.