Movie Stars vs Islamists

...Meanwhile, singer Ahmad Dhani of the popular rock band Dewa has released several hit songs whose lyrics aim to undercut the allure of Islamic militancy among Indonesian youth...

...At the local level, political Islam was fostered by violent militias...

...Against this backdrop, Anwar is making a groundbreaking film called Dead Time, which is reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's Brazil: It's a gritty movie about a future Indonesia that is balkanizing under the weight of dictatorial laws...

...With the PKS pulling strings in parliament and radical groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Defenders Front operating on the ground in provincial cities outside of Jakarta, sharia has been adopted in Aceh territory, the city of Padang, and the Jakarta suburb of Tangerang...

...The board itself seemingly is motivated not by Islamic sentiments, but by fear of retribution from devout Muslims...

...There are bold calls for the adoption of a national "anti-pornography" law that would constitute a de facto implementation of sharia by criminalizing public displays of affection between a husband and wife and legislating what women are allowed to wear...

...The film censorship board subsequently tightened the law to cover same-sex kissing...

...Anwar's current project is arguably his most ambitious, and is a response to the rise of radicalism...

...the word has no direct equivalent in English...

...Anwar first came to prominence as a screenwriter for the 2003 comedy Arisan!, which swept the national and international film awards and has Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is a senior consultant for the Gerard Group International...

...If Indonesian society is transformed into an authoritarian state governed by a strict version of Islamic law, the blow will be felt not only by the country's entertainment industry, but also by all who cherish freedom...

...Anwar says that Dead Time will deal with "who can be the one that Jayabaya predicted...

...In practice, it has been home to a relatively moderate form of Islam, which is now being challenged...

...They often succeed...

...Arisan...

...We always try to push the envelope," he says, "either politically or on romantic things...

...The board removed the scene and told Anwar this was for his own protection: They claimed the scene would cause the film to lose money because theaters showing it would be at risk of arson and Anwar would be attacked...

...nationally, by such parties as the Prosperous Justice party (PKS), linked with the Muslim Brotherhood...

...It's getting pretty scary," Anwar says, "because we don't know what next they'll say is wrong according to them...

...One of the most fascinating figures to watch is filmmaker Joko Anwar, who views Indonesian filmmaking in a political context...

...Anwar refashioned his script to center the movie around a likable gay character who falls in love and is ultimately accepted by friends and family...

...While working on Arisan!, Anwar discovered a loophole in the ban of on-screen kissing: It prohibited kissing between a man and a woman...

...He is convinced that the majority of Indonesians don't share the Islamic movement's values, but that the movement is gaining momentum because, in any controversy, the radicals are always the most vocal...

...The resulting same-sex kissing scenes became a national sensation...

...This has been true since the early post-Suharto days, when criminal charges were dropped against a number of radical clerics, including the suspected head of Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Bashir...

...Jayabaya predicted that Indonesia would go through a period of deep crisis before a leader would arise to reunite the nation and lead it into an era of peace and prosperity...

...This opposition is sometimes subtle, sometimes bold...

...Since Suharto's ouster in 1998, Islamic political movements have operated more freely— and they've learned to use the film censorship laws to promote Muslim mores...

...While Islamic conservatives have made significant gains, the entertainment industry is emerging as a major arena of opposition to their highly restrictive vision for society...

...It's going to be a noir film," Anwar says of Dead Time, which is based on the prophesies of the twelfth-century figure Jayabaya, sometimes described as the "Indonesian Nostradamus...

...As a political gesture, celebrities started jokingly declaring they were gay...

...His first book, My Year Inside Radical Islam, is due out in February 2007from Tarcher/Penguin...

...They are filling a role that the government should be playing: battling against extremism," he says...

...In 2005, Anwar submitted his directorial debut, Joni's Promise, to the censorship board with a modest male-female kissing scene...

...it's the name of a monthly female social gathering) challenged censorship laws established by dictator Suharto's "New Order" regime, under which Islamic political activity was narrowly restricted...

...Nick Grace, an Indonesian-language political commentator who met Anwar through Grace's podcast, Global Crisis Watch, applauds the work of the Indonesian entertainment industry...

...Although the movie doesn't specify what the oppressive laws are, it clearly targets current efforts to establish sharia...

...For now, the radicals may be winning the battles by paying people to rally for their causes, but the war will ultimately be won by the filmmakers whose films not only have staying power but are filling cinema seats...

...by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross Indonesia is currently embroiled in a high-stakes culture war between forces dedicated to islamic law and more secular-minded citizens devoted to the freedoms and rights enshrined in the country's constitution...

...In making full use of the right to free expression enshrined in the constitution, the forces seeking to spread political Islam have succeeded in substantially undermining this right...

...one entertainer who positively courts political controversy is pop singer Inul Daratista, whose suggestive dancing has gotten her banned from several Muslim-dominated towns and earned her the ire of the Indonesian Ulemas Council...

...been spun off into Indonesia's top-rated TV sitcom...

...Indonesia is a critical bellwether in the long war against Islamic extremism because it is the world's most populous Muslim country and has extremely porous borders...

...The filmmakers are directly involved in this culture war...