photos by Didi Mugitriman



MY FIRST INTRODUCTION to some old cinema houses in Yogyakarta started in 2008 when I got a class assignment for the Mass Media Management subject. My professor, at that time, Novi Kurnia, assigned the students to watch the screening in Permata cinema, one of the oldest cinema house in Yogyakarta and then make a report based on it. For a lazy student like me, that assignment was troublesome. It’s useless, I thought. But because all of my friends did that task, I tried to finish the assignment too.

In the beginning, I was not really interested, but in the end, I was really impressed by my visit to Permata. I was really enthusiastic, similar to the character, Salvatore, when visits the cinema in the film Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988). I really admired Pak Sarjiman, the film deliveryman who rides a bike, ‘This is the real Joni, Nicholas Saputra is nothing by any comparison!,’ I thought at the moment.[1] A few months after, some friends and I made a documentary about this cinema house. It turned out, that class assignment could change my view to the situation faced by Permata cinema.

Two years after that, in the last August, a friend sent me a text message. He informed me that he read an announcement in front of Permata stating that the Permata would be closed for good on August 1st 2010. I hardly believe it but after I confirmed it to the owner, the news was for real, Permata had gone bankrupt.

According to Permata’s director, Bambang, on July 28th 2010, the board of directors conducted a meeting to discuss a plan to close the cinema house. The meeting decided that the cinema that’s located in Sultan Agung Street, in Yogyakarta would be officially closed on August 1st 2010. The last screening in the theater would be held on July 31st at 9pm with screening Gairah Dalam Pergaulan (Desire in the Friendship), and was attended only by handful of people, less than ten persons.

Soebagyo, President director of Permata and Bambang’s partner in the company stated a similar thing. Soebagyo said, every month the theatre suffered losses up to 5 million rupiah. To cover the increasing operational cost, the theatre actually had reduced the number of screenings. Previously, they did film screenings five times a day but since 2010, the number of the screenings was reduced into three times per day. Unfortunately, even the strategy was not proven to be sufficient.

To cover the loss, in July 2010, the management increased the ticket price from 6,000 IDR to 7,000 IDR. However, instead of profit, the audience was becoming less and less. The price was considered too expensive for Permata cinemagoers that were mostly lower class. Being asked about this particular lower class audience, Soebagyo once told Kompas, “The audience here are mostly from lower class. If there are at least five audiences present, then we will screen the film.” [2]

The Cinema house, which has been mentioned by Garin Nugroho as a cinema that has made him loved film, had faced a constant crisis since 1990s. But the cinema survived until August 2010. According to Soebagyo, the cinema began to face a dire crisis in 2009. “Since 2009, we don’t know why it’s very difficult to get films. Even if there was a film screened, it’s limited to horror or sexploitation genre. Initially people loved it, but slowly they also get bored. It’s very difficult to get other kind of films other than those kinds,” he explained. 

The most suprising thing was how the cinema got their film during 2009 - 2010. “We got the film even from ‘illegal’ distributor, you know, a person that is not supposed to have the film. So there were people coming here, offering some films. We have to return the film to Jakarta via travel service. Then the people in Jakarta will take the film in the travel office,“ he said.  Unfortunately, he did not want to reveal the detail of this particular and strange distribution system. He mentioned a name that usually brings him films, but he asked not to disclose the person in this article.

Bambang added that in the past, the distribution system was more transparent. “We used to take films from the distributor Sanggar Film or Dwi Sendang Film, but now this is not the case anymore. I don’t know whether Sanggar Film still exists or not at the time being.” Sanggar Film, as was told by Bambang, was a film distrubutor who dominated the area of Central Java, during their heyday. Sanggar Film also run Yogyakarta Mataram Cinema which already went bankrupt on 9 September 2007. [3]

For Soebagyo and Bambang, the death of Permata cinema makes their cinema business smaller. At a time when the cinema business was at peak, under NV Perfebi (Peredaran Film dan Eksploitasi Bioskop, Film Distribution and Cinema Exploitation) flag, since 1983, they controlled 15 cinemas spread across Yogyakarta, Banjar, Purbalingga, Wonosobo, Temanggung, and some other cities in Central Java. After the closure of Permata cinema, now they only have two cinemas, which are Indra Cinema in Yogyakarta and Dieng Cinema in Wonosobo.

That’s an irony that a cinema with long history such as Permata should end up tragically. If we scrutinize further, the cinema whose capacity is around 350 seats, is one of the remaining historical cinemas in Yogyakarta. As written by Antariksa in 2003, in the beginning Permata cinema was called Luxor cinema. [4] This cinema was established in 1946 together with another cinema in Yogyakarta, such as Soboharsono, Rex, Pathuk Garden and Toegoe. An article at a photography magazine, Fantasma, in April 2002, states that before using the name “Permata”, Luxor was first changed into Asta cinema. But Soebagyo doubts that Luxor has been changed into Asta before Permata.

The growth of cinema house in Yogyakarta in 1946 can be said as the first phase of early cinema growth. Previously, there was a cinema called Al Hambra in Yogyakarta, founded in 1916. Al Hambra cinema, since Indonesia got its independence changed its name into Indonesia Raya, popularly known as Indra. Quoting Antariksa, Al Hambra Cinema was located at Jalan Malioboro. It consisted of two cinemas, that were Al Hambra and Mascot. Al Hambra was aimed for upper class (European, Chinese enterpreneurs, and the Kraton royalties) whereas Mascot catered the lower class (‘natives’). [5] As told by Yadi, Indra’s manager, Indra cinema now uses the former building of Al Hambra, while Mascot which was located behind Indra, now is being used for warehouse.

Permata and Indra (formerly named Al Hambra) were the most popular and most luxurious cinema at that time. Close connection between two cinemas has been established long time ago. To quote Antariksa, cinema business in Yogyakarta was dominated by Nederlands Indische Bioscoop Exploitatie Maateschapij which owned Al Hambra (Indra) and Luxor (Permata) cinema. [6] There is a possibility that this company was the forerunner of NV Perfebi (Peredaran Film dan Eksploitasi Bioskop) which now is led by Soebagyo.

The growth of cinema in Yogyakarta was proven by the report of Kompas on 1 November 2008 that mentioned about Yogyakarta having 19 cinema houses, which were spread across the city. The closure of Permata cinema made Yogyakarta only has three cinemas. They are Bioskop 21, located at Plaza Ambarukmo, Empire XXI in Urip Sumoharjo street (Solo street) and Indra Cinema located on Malioboro street. Various kinds of crisis have made cinema outside Cineplex 21 chain closed. A mere romanticism of the glorious past was the only thing these old cinemas were left with.

The glory days of Permata cinema occurred during 1980 – 1990s. Jamsuki, the projectionist that had been working for Permata since 1977, told that the most crowded screenings he remember were Ben Hur (William Wyler, 1959) and Janur Kuning (Alam Surawidjaja, 1979). Regardless of the government’s recommendation to watch film Janur Kuning, according Jamsuki, in those decade, Permata cinema was always packed with people.

Bambang agrees on what Jamsuki said. He says that 1970 – 1980s was the heyday of Permata cinema. “Because it was so packed, we had to add an extra show. Therefore, we announced on the radio that we would have an extra screening caused by the number of the audience,” he said it nostalgically.

Over the time, the popularity of Permata cinema decreased rapidly, despite its importance as an early cinema house in Yogyakarta. The architecture of the cinema is also interesting in itself, seen as a colonial style architecture legacy in Yogyakarta. The establishment of Permata cinema in 1946 resulted in its proxemity with colonial architecture in style. In the western side of the cinema, for instance, the building maintains its colonial style with its distinct stepped gevel (gabble).

Today, the western side of the building is also decorated by a mural entitled Matahari. Aaron Noble, a visual artist from San Fransisco, created this mural to respond the dimmer state of the cinema house. At that time, Aaron Noble created this mural with initiative from Apotik Komik group in the project “Proyek Sama-Sama” in 2002.

Now the mural becomes the important landmark of the Permata for many people.  Following the decline of the cinema, most people now know Gudeg Permata better than Permata cinema, whereas Gudeg Permata’s name was nicked because the gudeg place is located in the western side of the Permata cinema.

As admitted by Soebagyo, 1990s period was the beginning of the decline in number of audience in the cinemas he managed. He said that the emergence and the growth of private television that showed films as one of their programs, made the audience switched their preference to television. For example, he mentioned a program called Layar Emas broadcasted by RCTI in 1990s, which has an impact on the decline of cinema audience. “People started to think that in a moment, the film would be broadcasted on TV. On television, it’s free, but in cinema, we have to pay. They chose TV for obvious reasons,” he complained.

His demur seemed acceptable, because according to Jauhari, the presence of private television channels had direct impact on the decline of cinemas' turnover down to 50%, felt by cinema owners as well as film producers. It was not only happening because television aired a variety of movies through their programs, but also the act also fulfilled a desire for entertainment as watching television is cheaper and more practical then going to cinema. It could be watched from home. [7]

According to Kurnia, this problem stems from window system that has not yet implemented in Indonesia so there is no regulation when any film should be able to be screened on television following its theatrical release. Window system is a system to regulate film distribution pattern through various channels. Usually, six months after being screened in cinema (theatrical release), film can be broadcasted on television. The absence of this system in Indonesia leads the film producer to sell their film even before the film is finished, to cover the production cost. In the negotiation with television channels, some producers often let the film being aired less than six months after its theatrical release date. [8]

A little bit different with his colleague, Bambang said that the crisis of Permata and other cinemas could be intensely felt in 1998 – 2000s. The crisis was caused by the proliferation of VCD, particularly pirated VCD in Yogyakarta, rendering people preference to watch film at home than in the cinema. In the case of Yogyakarta, VCD has significant impact on cinema’s revenue indeed. As written by Tresnadewi, there was a strong connection between the development of VCD business and the collapse of cinema houses in Yogyakarta. This phenomenon could be seen through the declining number of cinema houses operating in Yogyakarta, in parallel with the proliferation of VCD business during 1995 – 2000; and the decrease of cinema attendance in Yogyakarta. [9]

We could see also from local revenue comparison from cinema and VCD in Yogyakarta as presented by Irawanto. In 1995/1996, local revenue from cinema reached 1,575,942,680 IDR while in 1999/2000 it was worth only 222,666,317 IDR, or reduced almost 80%. On the other hand, increased was local revenue came from VCD rental, in 1997/1998 it reached 2,016,615 IDR while in 1999/2000 it came to 5,782,950 IDR.  Although the increase was relatively small nominally, it almost reached 300%. [10]

The next test faced by Permata cinema came from Cineplex 21 chain, which started to operate in Yogyakarta since April 2006 in Ambarukmo Plaza. In November 2007, Kabare Jogja magazine wrote that in the weekdays, about 1800 audience, a very significant number, visited this five studios cinema. The 21’s turnover was more than 500 million rupiah per month. [11] This success led Cineplex 21 to open another cinema, Empire XXI in Urip Sumoharjo street on March 13th 2009. The siege of giant cinema chain such as Cineplex 21 gave more pressure to Permata cinema, which did not have sufficient resource to clean up its act.

Soebagyo and Bambang are not really upset by Cineplex 21’s presence. “Second-class cinema like Permata is not comparable with Cineplex 21,” Bambang said. “Audience in Cineplex 21 cinema is not only watching film, they are seeking prestige. Watching film in Permata would never give them anything like that.” What they complained about was the distribution channel that, according to him, was getting more difficult after Cineplex 21 operates in Yogyakarta. So disappointed that Soebagyo told, “This is Cineplex 21’s state or SBY’s (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, current president) state? Even film distribution could not be handled straight.”

It seems that the emergence of Cineplex 21 in Yogyakarta did not only affect distribution system, but also more importantly, the shift in film viewing practice. As observed by Zamzam, in this context, film-viewing practice was closely related with the commodity, activity and structure of modern culture. Images that are presented in film could no longer be controlled by film producers, but by the phycsical feature of the cinema and resources of its operator. Concept of presenting ‘a film show’ of this kind works only in Cineplex 21 cinema, but not in others. This fact justifies Bambang’s opinion that people go to cinema not only for watching films. [12]

On the other hand, there has been a meeting discussing distribution issues in the second-class cinema such as Permata. On 14 July 2010 in Semarang, Gabungan Perusahaan Bioskop Seluruh Indonesia (GPBSI, Indonesian Cinema Owner Association) conducted a meeting to discuss this issue. The meeting proposed that after being screened in Cineplex 21 cinema, a film should be screened directly in second-class theater such as Permata. Unfortunately, this decision has not yet been implemented. “If this decision was truly implemented, it could help this cinema. Unfortunately, Permata cinema has been closed before the decision is ratified,” Soebagyo said.

Met at his house in East Jakarta, Djonny Syafruddin, GPBSI chairman admitted that the situation was not as simple as imagined by second-class cinema owners. “I give you the picture. Today, a film producer in Indonesia ideally makes at least 60 film copies, but sometimes less. From those 60 copies, the producer will think how to distribute the copies effectively. Cineplex 21, can’t be denied, has a reliable system. Their accountability is good, therefore the producer trusts their film there,” Djonny explained. He then criticized small cinemas whose accountability are poor. “Sometimes, small cinema does not return the film copy. They also pay the film four months after the screening. Consequently, the producer feels that it is not profitable. I think this situation should be considered by cinema outside Cineplex 21 chain.”

Furthermore, I asked a question why a film was screened in Cineplex 21 first, then to second-class cinemas like Permata. “It’s impossible to screen a film in Cineplex 21 in the same time with second-class cinema because by regulation if a film is screened simultaneously in the same area, the price should be similar too. But if the price was similar, for instance, if Permata charged 15,000 IDR as Cineplex 21, would there be anybody watching film there? No, of course not. That would ruin the market. The meeting in Semarang (by members of Cinema Owner Association) was putting an attempt towards a condition that after being screened in Cineplex 21, a film could be screened directly in second-class cinemas, in order to show our hope that the audience in this cinema could grow,” he said.

Further, Djonny said that the fate of those small cinemas like Permata was not only about the lack of audience, but more than that. “Cinema business was crazy. During 1960 – 1980, revenue from cinema tickets was the third largest revenue for local government. Besides entertainment, cinema could be seen as an indicator of development and security of a certain area. In the good old days, every district had at least one cinema. As a result, people were being entertained, and the nightlife in a particular district became lively, reducing crime proneness of the area. In the village, cinema was not only entertainment, but sadly, now most of them were already closed,” he concerned.

Djonny would be upset if he found out about the domino effect of Permata cinema’s closure. As already explained, besides owning Permata cinema, Soebagyo and Bambang also run Indra and Dieng cinema in Wonosobo. Both cinemas, as a matter of fact, are in serious threat of being closed. The most lucrative from those three is Dieng cinema. Therefore profit from Dieng cinema is used to subsidize the loss of Permata and Indra cinema every month.

When I visited Dieng cinema that is located a few kilometers from Wonosobo City Square, there were youth watching films there. According to Bendot, Dieng Cinema’s operational manager, they could survive because they were the only cinema in Wonosobo and its neighbouring area. He recounted that for film Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Troops, Riri Riza, 2008), Dieng scooped a sizeable profit.

The most interesting part is Dieng cinema’s strategy to attract audience. Bendot shared that this cinema management frequently submits a letter to district head (regent), requesting the regent to obligate certain film to be watched. Laskar Pelangi and Merah Putih (Red and White, Yagi Sugandi, 2009), for instance, turned out to be such moneymaker because the regent suggested the schoolchildren to see the film. “Now, we are trying to make Darah Garuda (Merah Putih 2) as a compulsory film. Essentially, for every educational film or film about national struggle, we try to encourage the local government to release a compulsory watching letter,” Bendot explained his strategy to reap profit from his cinema.

Soebagyo claimed that the cinema has been on the real estate market since five years ago but no one has made any offer yet. The sale aims to cover the huge deficit caused by Permata's and Indra's operational cost. “There was a say that the regent himself planned to buy this cinema because it’s the only cinema there. So the regent said that it should be maintained but I have not heard anything since then,” Soebagyo added.

Soebagyo added that there was a possibility that Dieng cinema would be closed. If that happened, it would come as sad news for people living in Wonosobo, Banjarnegara, and Purbalingga that now, they wouldn’t be able to see films in a cinema anymore. If Dieng was to be closed, they would have to take more than a two hours ride to Magelang or Semarang to watch a movie.

The situation of Indra Cinema is much worse. Located on Malioboro Street and across Beringharjo market in Yogyakarta, Indra Cinema now is glaring to its glorious past. During its heyday, Indra cinema was even far more popular than Permata. Even though they are still operating and does not release any statement on closure plan such as Permata, the number of audience in Indra is getting lower and lower. On August 21st 2010, for example, I came to watch the first screening at 11am, but the screening was cancelled because there was no audience. A loss suffered by this cinema is multiplying in daily basis.

Soebagyo said pessimistically that in December 2010 at the latest, Indra would be closed, “We could not suffer more loss,” he said. This possibility seems to be real after a rumour spread on September 15th 2010. As written by Kedaulatan Rakyat newspaper, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X proposed new parking spaces to prevent traffic jam in Malioboro area, and Indra cinema is sitting on one of the sites that were recommended by Sultan HB X to be converted into a parking space. [13]

On September 22nd 2010, Kompas stated that Yogyakarta provincial government would propose 18 billion IDR budget in 2010 to finance an acquisition of former Indra and its neighbouring land. Eddy Siswanto, the head of Development Planning Board of Yogyakarta provincial government, said that the budget would provide severance payments for the residents who previously occupied the land. [14]

When being confirmed about the conversion plan of Indra cinema to a parking space, Soebagyo answered that it might be true. “Indra cinema occupies a land that has been there since Dutch colonial era. It’s like…we are just waiting for the severance payment. Once we got paid, we would be closing Indra Cinema.” He also explained that local officials had visited him and talked about severance payments to be paid for Indra cinema management. “In December, at the latest, the cinema will be closed,” he said. Yadi, Soebagyo’s staff in Indra cinema revealed similar situation. “It’s already certain, that in December or January, the government will start to build a parking space. I hear a say that there will be four storeys parking space or…I don’t know how many. The cinema will be razed to the ground. It will dissapear,” he said.

This is ironic but city government’s decision to build a parking space out of Indra cinema is not surprising because of its strategic location. Located on Malioboro Street and just across Beringharjo market, Indra cinema’s location is really strategic for being a parking space. Moreover, Indra cinema is close to some important touristic destinations, such as Vredeburg Fort, Taman Budaya Yogyakarta, and Mirota Batik, which is one of the souvenir centres in Malioboro area. Given this fact, a plan to convert Indra cinema to parking space is obviously a serious plan.

It’s a matter of time for Indra Cinema to roll up its screen following Permata Cinema's lead, be it from the loss they suffer or from a threat of converting the first and historical Indra cinema to parking space. What’s clear, however, is the closure of Permata Cinema could open the possibility to be followed by the death of Indra and Dieng Cinema in Wonosobo. Permata cinema has ringed the last warning call of the increasingly scarcity of historical and old cinema in Yogyakarta and Central Java.

As told by Irawanto, the decline of the ‘lower class’ cinema which mostly were located in small town area made it hard for the lower-middle class to access cinema whereas in this particular class, national films held their own special place. Unfortunately, most of cinema houses now are located in big cities. They sell maximum comfort with similar exorbitant price; therefore the phenomena of cinema in Indonesia will be an exclusive one since it only caters the upper class in urban settings. [15]

Sure enough, lower class would be, once again, injured. The disappearance of second-class cinema means the disappearance of inexpensive entertainment for the lower class. The closure of this kind of cinema will marginalize the lower class more and more, including its aspiration for entertainment. There will not be any story of lower class enjoying cinema any longer.

All of a sudden, I miss my first experience setting my foot in the projectionist room in Permata cinema. Pak Jamsuki welcomed me warmly. He taught me how to roll the film correctly, to see how many audience was attending the screening and how to roll celluloid. He was like Alfredo in film Cinema Paradiso: friendly, relaxed and nice. At the bottom of my heart, I remember Alfredo’s remark in the film,“Life isn’t like in the movies. Life … is much harder.” ***




Yogyakarta, October 2010
Translated by Veronica Kusuma




ARDI WILDA IRAWAN was born on May Day 1988. Unfortunately, he does not know anything about May Day. He is a student at Communication department, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He is a contributor for Rolling Stone Indonesia (online)and Jakartabeat.net. His highest aspirations are to own a kindergarten and to watch Blur’s concert in Wembley stadium, UK.

DIDI MUGITRIMAN was born in 1982 in Jambi and became a university graduate in August 2007.  He works as a freelance photographer, doing project such as any kind of documentation, book illustration, performance art photography, journalism, wedding photography, etc.  He learned photography in Photography Unit (student photography club) at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta since 2001. He just finished his longest job, an internship at Antara Photo-Journalism Gallery (Galeri Foto Jurnalistik Antara, GFJA) Jakarta as a project manager assistant in the period between May – June 2010.

VERONICA KUSUMA was born in Yogyakarta, May 17, 1980. She never learned anything about translation, but she studied at Media Studies, Department of Film, Faculty of Film and Television, at the Jakarta Art Institute. She is one of the founders of the Institute's Klub Kajian Film (Film Studies Club) and now works as a film curator.

* This article is a revised version from a previous one, published in Jakartabeat.net.