Indonesia's Thriving National Film Industry

SHAKESPEAR:

After spending years in the doldrums, production of Indonesian films is really thriving these days. Homegrown films now dominate the scene and the impact is bringing new life to the casting business. Heres more from our correspondents.



STORY:

The Indonesia film industry started to awaken in 2005, after being practically asleep for 12 years.

Over 1000 people are here for the casting for a new film titled, You and Me. Would-be actors must express emotions like sadness, complaining, anger, and happiness. Dancing ability is also important. Many of the applicants look very professional while others seem shy. Hundreds of castings organized by production houses or talent agents take place daily.

Now, it seems Indonesians want to see their own homegrown films—and that's created a burgeoning industry.

A new interest in film festivals was fostered in 2005, and one of the biggest film festivals is the Jakarta International Film Festival, or JIFFEST.

[Lalu Roi Samri, JIFFEST Director]:
Many Indonesian films are produced now. Ten years ago there were maybe less than ten, but now 100 films are produced in a short time. I can say that Indonesian films are now king in their home country.

[Riri Riza, Indonesia Film Director]:
Indonesians appreciate national films now. We feel happy that Indonesian films are doing so well internationally. Our films are developing in variety of styles and themes. There are also short films and documentaries. For me, its a very good development.

In the past, Indonesias cinemas were mostly showing foreign or Hollywood films all the time, so Indonesians were rather skeptical of the quality of their own films.

Film professionals made a lot of effort to change that perception. One of the most successful was inviting the president and VIPs to watch Indonesian films. The President then invited cabinet ministers and ambassadors from other countries to watch the films. At that time the president even invited the winner of the film festival to the National Palace.

As the result, Indonesia's film spirit has awakened. Now Indonesian films successfully dominate 96% of Indonesia's 500 cinemas. Some national films are breaking attendance records with over three million viewers.

NTDTV, Jakarta, Indonesia.

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