Video Vortex Reader II: moving images beyond YouTube

184 Video Vortex Reader II Moving Images Beyond YoutubeAsia online185Networking challenges are also evident within the global social-justice movement, with whichmany of the groups in this study intersect. As has been argued by Manuel Castells, 19 theglobal formation of social movements has been profoundly transformed by the intensificationof communication. Traditional movement structures have been abandoned as new informationtechnology allows for resource mobilization, information-sharing and action-coordinationon a larger and faster scale. Furthermore, Jeffrey Juris 20 notes that the emergence of thecultural logic of networking among global social-justice activists, which is facilitated by digitaltechnologies, not only provides an effective method for the organization of social movements,but also represents a broader model for creating alternative forms of organization.However, the insights of such observers of global internet culture have not yet shed light onhow digitally mediated social networking can be appropriated in non-Western countries suchas Indonesia, where insufficient technical infrastructure and a range of different culturalbackgrounds produce distinct challenges for social movements. Certainly, the underdevelopedinternet infrastructure did not hinder the proliferation of political dissent in Indonesia in1998. 21 And yet, the establishment of horizontal networking between activists in the digitalsphere to sustain such dissent is not yet manifest, even though internet infrastructure is nowfar superior and much more widespread than it was in 1998. Bandwidth may still limit thepossibilities of video, but most other media can take reasonable advantage of the currentinfrastructure. This lack of networking is indicated by the almost complete lack of hyperlinksbetween groups surveyed on their respective websites, even though hyperlinks have beenavailable as a technology for more than 15 years. Clearly, the issue is not merely the availabilityof the tools, but the strategic and imaginative implementation of such. How can anapproach to the technology that is more confident, playful, creative and grounded in localcontexts be manifested?Calibrating Hybrid Distribution MethodsWhether the responsibility for distribution is assumed by the video-makers themselves, supportedby offline programs such as festivals, screenings or exhibitions, based on commercialopportunities, or developed through online channels, the challenges are significant. Thisdiscussion is based on the assumption that an established form of independent distributionis yet to be created in Indonesia. The groups studied view the possibility and necessity ofsuch a model differently, simultaneously inventing new schemes, referring to systems alreadyemployed abroad, taking advantage of mainstream screening services, or even choosing notto distribute their work at all. The problem of distribution is inseparable from the challenges ofaccess to technology. While the ideologies associated with each are interrelated, we approachthe video distribution schemes in two sets of practices, offline and online.Layar Tancap, Community Television and Other Offline ChannelsIn Indonesia, various offline methods of distribution are still more popular than online methods,both because of the limitations of internet infrastructure already outlined, and becauseof the rich culture of social events and communication that already exists across the country.Some of the most common methods of distribution are screening programs, festivals, exhibitions,television broadcasts, home-video distribution and hand-to-hand distribution.For activists, alternative screening methods outside mainstream venues have been politicallyas well as practically motivated. 22 Screenings become peripheral projects, using a range ofindoor sites as well as layar tancap (literally ‘freestanding screen’), and are often held outdoorsin sports fields or other open spaces. Combine Resource Institution uses this methodand adds an interesting twist to it, by downloading related videos from YouTube to use in thescreenings. Screenings are also held in foreign cultural institutions, independent cinemahouses,art galleries, campuses, political centres, village halls, or even more privately, amongfriends in boarding houses or family homes.Some of the video activists, such as KoPI, Offstream and VideoBabes, frequently send theirwork to festivals and exhibitions in Indonesia and overseas. Some groups hold their ownfestivals: Kawanusa has been organizing the Community Video festival in Bali since 2007;ruangrupa in Jakarta has been producing OK.Video biannually since 2003. In the meantime,there are a very large number of video festivals operating around the world, and they oftenform a central focus for video-makers. The focus on this method, however, can prevent videomakersfrom formulating broader approaches to distribution. Online distribution of a videois sometimes an obstacle to being invited to festivals that, even in this age of massive onlinedistribution, will sometimes refuse to screen films that can already be found online.Television broadcast as a mechanism for distributing video has not been discounted by producersand distributors of non-mainstream videos. However, as indicated by Sofia Setyotriniof In-Doc (an agency working for the development of local documentary films), royalty feesfor screening on television constitutes a considerable obstacle. National television stations donot provide royalties to independent video-makers because they regard the video materialas non-profit in nature, and claim that video-makers should be grateful for the free accessthey gain to wider audiences. These reasons are accepted by some groups, such as Gekko,which views cooperation with television stations as an effective strategy for broadcastingenvironmental concerns.Many video activists feel that distributing their work through mainstream and commercialchannels undermines the antagonistic nature of their work, although this view has the flowoneffect of limiting their distribution. On the other hand, too much attention to the possibili-19. Manuel Castells, The Power of Identity. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1997.20. Jeffrey S. Juris, ‘Networked Social Movements: Global Movements for Global Justice’, in ManuelCastells (ed.) The Network Society: a Cross-Cultural Perspective, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar,2004, pp. 341-362.21. Merlyna Lim, ‘From War-net to Net-War: The Internet and Resistance Identities in Indonesia’,The International Information & Library Review 35.2-4 (2003): 233-248.22. One reason attributed to the number and variety of independent screening programs inIndonesia is the slowness of commercial cinema networks (e.g. 21 Group) to adopt digitalprojection technologies that would allow for the screening of video as well as film. This has meantthat video-makers, whether activists or not, have initiated their own screening programs ratherthan rely on mainstream opportunities.