Welsh film director gareth huw Evans has brought the indonesian martial art of pencak silat to international film audiences
Through his avuncular smile, Gareth Huw tells JJK that he always wanted to work in the film industry. His 2006 self-penned feature, “Footsteps”, premiered at the Swansea Bay Film Festival and was awarded Best Feature Film. The flick proved to be the key to unlocking a wider door of opportunity for Gareth in the film industry, and he had plans.
The following year, while directing a documentary for Christine Hakim entitled “The Mystic Arts of Indonesia: Pencak Silat”, Gareth discovered that this traditional Indonesian martial art was truly fascinating and he became drawn to Indonesia’s cultural heritage.
Married to Indonesian Rangga Maya Barack-Evans, who serves as his producer, Gareth decided to move to Jakarta and make his own silat movies that he hoped would eventually captivate audiences. In the wake of his breakout movie, “Merantau” (2009), Gareth is optimistic that “The Raid” (2011), out in March or April of this year, will go international.
What lies behind your idea of infusing pencak silat into the world of cinema?
Fight scenes, such as the ones performed by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, have always enthralled me ever since I was a kid. This was when I developed an interest in karate, kung fu and muay thai. I was immediately interested in pencak silat the very first time I saw it as I worked on a documentary film with Christine Hakim, and I felt compelled to share the fascinating world of silat with people back home. But there were no modern movies, at an international level at any rate, that showcased pencak silat at all. So, if I wanted to uncover the hidden charm of pencak silat, I had to make my own movie about it, and “Merantau” was where I got started.
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