Indonesia, France Reaffirm Cultural Cooperation with Focus on Film Industry
Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening cultural cooperation with France, identifying the film sector as a key area of collaboration alongside museum management and the protection of cultural heritage.
Culture Minister Fadli Zon said the cooperation, based on a memorandum of understanding signed in May, includes initiatives for film co-productions and efforts to expand the reach of Indonesian films among French audiences. In a written statement received on Monday, he noted that both sides are also enhancing coordination on strategic issues such as cultural heritage protection, digital transformation, and the role of culture in supporting sustainable development.
Zon expressed optimism that Indonesia’s rapidly growing film industry, supported by the development of its animation sector, would create broader opportunities for Indonesian-French film co-productions.
Meanwhile, French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati said six Indonesian filmmakers are currently taking part in a film co-production training program and are expected to continue their training in France next year through the INA France Lab.
Dati said film cooperation between the two countries will focus on film literacy, the development of a co-production ecosystem, producer incubators, technical training programs, and the distribution of Indonesian films on French platforms and at international festivals.
She added that the French government has followed up on five main agreements with Indonesia, covering bilateral museum cooperation, film collaboration with the Centre National du Cinéma (CNC), capacity building with La Fémis, research and collection cooperation between the Indonesian Heritage Agency and the École française d’Extrême-Orient, as well as museum and cultural heritage cooperation with the Musée Guimet.
Cultural cooperation between Indonesia and France has also been reflected in the organization of a Panorama and Retrospective of Indonesian Cinema at La Cinémathèque française in Paris, as a follow-up to the joint strategy for culture and a letter of intent on film and audiovisual cooperation between Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and the CNC.
