Garin Nugroho’s Adelaide Visit

The visit of Indonesian director Garin Nuroho ( Opera Jawa) was a great treat for all who attended the screening of his film Of Love and Eggs at the Mercury Cinema and especially for staff and students at Flinders University who met with him the next day.

Garin is something of a powerhouse and manages to find time to organise an annual film festival – to be held in Indonesia in a couple of months, run workshops in West Papua, teach at an Indonesian University as well as writing, directing and producing his own films. A man of conscience and vision he charmed his dinner companions with an anecdote about a ‘riot’ he had organised to protest against proposed anti-pornography legislation that would have meant traditional grab would be banned for classical dancers. Using his networks he had 1,000 beautiful women clad in the offending attire demonstrate and dance before the assembled police who were totally disarmed by the display. Needless to say the legislation was dropped.