Who doesn't know Garin? He is not only a well-known film director, but also a driving force for various cultural activities that are very important in Indonesia. Garin Nugroho Riyanto, or better known as Garin Nugroho was born on June 6, 1961, in Yogyakarta, is a director, screenwriter, film producer, initiator and dramaturg of various popular stage shows. Garin Nugroho's name became widely known after a film called Love in a Piece of Bread (1990). Then, his second film, Surat Untuk Bidadari (1992) brought his name to the international film scene. Garin Nugroho completed his education in film at the Faculty of Cinematography at the Jakarta Art Institute (IKJ) in 1985. Apart from studying film, he also studied law at the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia, finishing in 1991. In Indonesian film, Garin Nugroho began his career as a film critic and filmmaker. documentary film. He has completed at least twenty five films (documentaries, short films, and feature films). At the 250th Anniversary of Mozart, Garin was chosen as one of six 'innovative directors' in the world to make films, which later gave birth to the phenomenal film Opera Jawa (2006). At the end of 2006, Garin initiated the birth of Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF), which is an annual film festival to quench the thirst of film lovers to be able to watch the best films in Asia. In the field of music, he has made video clips for January Christy, Titi DJ, Krakatau (musical group), Katon Bagaskara, Paquita Widjaya, Edo Kondologit, and Gong 2000. One of his video clips, Negeri di Atas Awan (sung by Katon Bagaskara) , managed to get the Visia Trophy in the final of the Indonesian Music Video Period 111994/1995 .
Garin's films always attract the attention of both the people of his own nation and the foreign film community. Awards such as the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Venice Independent Film Critic have been like a subscription for him to bring home trophies for his films. The film KucumbuTubuh Indahku (2019) managed to bring home 8 trophies from 12 Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) nominations, one of which was the awards for Best Film and Best Original Screenplay. The film also won the 'cultural diversity award' label at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. In his films, Garin puts a lot of cultural accents as visual art narratives. Garin's way of cultivating local culture as an important accent in his films deserves a thumbs up. As a result, this Yogyakarta-born director has his own style and uniqueness. We can trace it through a number of his film works, among others, Bulan Terpun Terampi (1994), Leaves on a Pillow! (1997), Unburied Poetry (1999), Javanese Opera (2006), Soegija (2012), Satan Jawa (2017), and dozens of other works.
Aside from being a filmmaker, Garin is also well-known as an artist, writer and classy stage director who is trying to raise the good name of Indonesia. His writings in newspapers contributed a lot of ideas to the advancement of the creativity of Indonesian artists and culture. His love for Indonesian cultural treasures has made him pay great attention to creating the Indonesian Performing Arts Creative Space platform to further hone the creativity of performing arts performers and also strengthen management and collaboration systems in the performing arts. For him there is no difference in putting a good work into film or theatre, both have the same difficulties but with their own specific challenges. Both of them are reliable media so that Indonesian culture will continue to be remembered and witnessed by the world. He hopes that his work will be loved by all walks of life, including millennials. Garin wanted a simplicity in the show, but classy and memorable in the soul of the audience. A work that can not only be seen but can make your eyes widen, that Indonesia is indeed rich. "The creative industry must further expand the development of technological facilities so that they are on a par with the world stage, Indonesia must have experts in this matter," said the accomplished director. ***