Pendefinisian Filem Berunsurkan Islam dan Pemerkasaan Watak Wanita dalam Filem ‘Perempuan Berkalung Sorban’ (Defining Islamic Oriented Film and The Empowerment of Women Characters in ‘Perempuan Berkalung Sorban’)

Abstract

This study focuses on the debate surrounding the definition of Islamic oriented film. To date, the definition of Islamic oriented film itself has yet to get many attentions from scholars in media and film studies. Hence, the main objective of this study is to unpack the definition of Islamic oriented film by evaluating the representation of the female characters. A film from Indonesia entitled Perempuan Berkalung Sorban (2009) was selected as a sample of the study through a purposive sampling technique. This study also utilised the qualitative content analysis method that combines the framework of feminist criticism and the Prophetic Social Science theory from Kuntowijoyo (2004). The analysis is carried out by analysing the construction of the selected female character through cinematic elements such as camera shots, dialogues, scene backgrounds and so on. The findings show that the main female character in the film has been potrayed as a dynamic and empowered woman. This empowered character can be explained through two sets of prophetic chains which are, the Humanization-Transcendence chain and the Liberation-Transcendence chain. Moreover, these prophetic chains also show that the female character acts as an agent of liberation that is based on transcendence vision. These findings are an added value to the understanding of Islamic oriented film. In addition, the combination of feminist criticism and the Prophetic Social Science theory employed for this study also provides a new analytical dimension in the field of film research, especially in analysing female representation.