Indonesian film industry is flourishing

The majority of Indonesians consume content regularly, hence it is logical if this consumption translates into the success of the local creative industry. Consistent with this, filmmakers, as well as the biggest domestic players, claim that the Indonesian film industry is flourishing, especially in terms of investment.

Filmmakers have said that the current funding climate for local film production is at its peak, and the same positive conditions are reflected in audience numbers.

Audience numbers have increased drastically, and Indonesian films are rocketing. Indonesia has one of the largest film markets in the world.Young talents are continuously creating new movies for the global market. With the rise of streaming services, it has become even easier to reach international audiences.

Joko Anwar is an internationally acclaimed Indonesian filmmaker. His movies have been watched in multiple countries around the world including Spain, Mexico, Thailand and the United States.

“After Jokowi became president, he made this council, the Indonesian Creative Industry Council, that really takes care of the Indonesian film industry. At the moment now, they are funding good projects, they have filmmakers, workshops. That’s what we need because film schools in Indonesia are not too many. In Jakarta I think we have five universities that have film studies and filmmaking departments,” said Joko.

This has made a lot of parties take interest in film investing. The government has also been much more supportive in terms of funding. This is the best condition we’ve seen [the industry in] in decades and hopefully it will get even better,” said Indonesian filmmaker Paul Agusta.