In addition to tobacco, when you mention Jember, people usually think about Jember Fashion Carnaval or the famous singer who is now a member of the House of Representatives.
By
Saiful Rijal Yunus
·6 minutes read
In addition to tobacco, when you mention Jember, people usually think about Jember Fashion Carnaval or the famous singer who is now a member of the House of Representatives. However, the young people of Jember, East Java, are now seeking a new identity. They are building a network of creative efforts based on coffee and film.
In the late afternoon at the end of March, two young men painted a house\'s walls black. Slowly, images began to emerge. Coffee beans, along with a glass, is one of them. The two young men painted the walls of the house, which had been turned into a coffee shop. The name of the place is Café Rengganis.
Behind them is the crowded road linking Jember and Lumajang. The air was humid even though the sun was not so hot. The new café, opened in middle of 2017, is located on the side of a busy road, more precisely in Tanggul village, Tanggul district. It takes about 70 minutes by car to reach the café from Jember Square.
Seto, 17, is one of the young men who painted the wall. Seto is still in 10th grade of SMA 1 Jember high school and frequently visited the café during the last few months.
"It\'s a nice café. I didn\'t know before that there\'s local coffee here," said Seto while he was painting the wall.
Seto, who likes to draw, is happier having a channel to showcase his talent. He also felt like he had a new home where young people could meet and discuss creative matters. "The village is getting more popular. Now, people know that there\'s a good café in the village, and they come," he said.
Beside him, Mohammad Saiin, 23, was talking with other young men. He graduated from the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Jember and is also the coordinator of young entrepreneurs in the village. They discussed things that young people in the village could do, such as a program that could help develop the village. Interspersed with fragrant coffee, the discussion was more fluid and lively.
Ahmad Budi Santosa, 26, rented an old house in a location far from the city and then turned it into a café. Budi, his nickname, opened the coffeeshop as a place for young people to gather. A number of high school and college students are regular visitors of Rengganis Café.
Some of the young people went to the café to learn about coffee, while others discussed ideas on how to develop the village. "We want this café to be a window for people to know Tanggul village, to know the coffee and to visit Jember because we want our village to develop more and be more well known to the people. Not only that, it also brings benefits to the wider community," he said.
Creative pulse
The activities of the young people in Tanggul village is a part of series of creative activities in Jember. Most people are proud of the local coffee. In addition to the coffee varieties introduced by Budi and his colleagues in the café, Jember is known to have several other types, like Aropuro and Mumbulsari. Cafés thrive in this district. They not only offer local coffee, but also coffee for urban tastes.
Even a place under a bridge has been turned into a nice café. From discussions in such cafés, young people can produce creative ideas and discuss programs on how to realize them. They enjoy the coffee and at the same time can find great ideas. It is part of the creative activities of the young people in Jember. One of them is filmmaking.
A number of movie communities were established and held various activities such as film screenings, film discussions and film production. Fauzi Ramadhani, the initiator of the Kemisan Film Show, recounted that he and his community were trying to accommodate and bring together filmmakers with their audience.
Since 2014, Fauzi has screened movies in several places in Jember. Sometimes, together with other communities, they held a viewing session and film discussion program. "The movie can be played in outdoor or indoor cinemas. In essence, we want to bring the audience together with a good movie that didn\'t have a chance to be shown in large cinemas in Jember, " said Fauzi.
Not only that, added Fauzi, but his community along with his colleagues also helped local young filmmakers participate in various festivals in Jember. Last year, a short film titled Ji Dulloh won the national championship. It was produced by the students of the department of television and film at the University of Jember and was made in Jember, featuring the rich Islamic environment in the area as well as a thick Jember language and dialect.
According to Fauzi, the number of communities and activities indicate the potential of the film industry in Jember. Discussions and film screenings in the cafés are rife. Some other film activists have produced mainstream movies. "That\'s positive in my opinion. Still, at present, we still lack channels and spaces in which to be creative," he said.
The filmmaking movement was initiated by the youth. Bobby Rahadyan from the Jember Film Society said he and a number of colleagues were among those who pioneered the film industry in Jember. At present, the opportunity to exist in the film world is very limited in the city. Cinemas in the area can be counted on one\'s hands. Restlessness due to limited space, said Bobby, motivated him and his colleagues to develop a film industry that could involve many people, from film actors to videographers, to makeup artists and even to caterers.
"Initially we worked based on orders. Then, we thought, why not develop the film industry as well? So, we don’t just make wedding videos; it could be a proper film project. We can make it even though we\'re just in the early stages," said Bobby.
Last February, a feature film was successfully produced. The production of the film, titled Frekwensi Mood, relied on local talents including producers, actors and the crew. The teen pop-themed film was marketed independently and was screened at a number of schools.
However, creative activists, including Bobby, Fauzi and Budi know that there is still much to discuss and much work to do. The lack of availability of channels and space has been partly resolved. Now, a mutual cooperation among people involved in the creative industry is needed to further promote the creative pulse in the area. I\'ll drink a coffee to that.