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Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Indonesia Open For Co-pros, Box Office Booming; But Lack Of Screens Hampering Further Growth
Indonesian cinema is booming, with local films breaking admissions records last year and on course for even further growth in 2025, but the lack of screens in the country has created a distribution bottleneck, said speakers on a Cannes Marche panel. Linda Gozali, who heads the recently launched JAFF Market, and Angga Dwimas Sasongko, founder and CEO of Jakarta-based Visinema Group, outlined current trends in the Indonesian theatrical market, one of the few in the world that is currently growing. More from Deadline 'The Secret Agent' Director On Brazil's Cinema Boom & What Needs To Be Fixed: "We Have To Clean Up Our Act" Yôsuke Kubozuka To Star In 'Gomusin' From Average Plus: Film Is First Project From Former Fremantle Exec Nastasja Borgeot's New Indie Dakota Johnson Plans To Direct First Feature From Script By 'Cha Cha Real Smooth' Actress Vanessa Burghardt - Cannes In addition, Denis Vaslin, CEO of Rotterdam-based Volya Films, and Hubert Bals Fund head Tamara Tatishvili, talked about the potential for co-production with the fast-growing market. Gozali explained that Indonesia currently has 468 cinemas with 2,293 screens for a population of around 280 million. That works out to an audience of 117,750 people per screen, compared to around 15,000 people per screen in China and South Korea and 9,000 in the U.S, making Indonesia significantly under-screened. 'I think one advantage of the Indonesian market is that the price point of tickets (around $2.50) makes cinema one of the cheapest form of entertainment. So from an investment point of view, we can see there's a lot of room to grow,' said Angga, whose recent release, animated feature Jumbo, was released over the Eid holidays and is currently close to 10 million admissions. In comparison, Disney's Frozen 2 is the biggest foreign animation of all time released in Indonesia with 4.2 million admissions. 'Our GDP is still slightly below $5,000 and when we pass that we can expect buying power and ticket prices to increase, and gross box office will significantly grow,' Angga added. 'If Jumbo had the same number of admissions in North America, it would have grossed $200M. We're not there yet but we can see the potential for growth.' While the market has been flooded with horror, Angga explained how Visinema took a gamble on making Jumbo, a family film: 'I told cinemas that if they book Jumbo, families will come, because in recent years they didn't have a chance to come to the cinema. And we proved to be right because during the Eid holidays the market as a whole reached 14 million admissions.' However, the lack of screens is creating a bottleneck for both local and foreign movies. Indonesian producers usually deal directly with the country's three major exhibitors when releasing a movie, as the country does not have many independent distributors, but all three cinema chains also have their own distribution companies and slates of movies. Last year, the market had a backlog of hundreds of unreleased films. 'If you tie up with one Indonesia's major studios, you have a better chance of getting distribution, but bear in mind, that 300 to 400 other movies are also competing for screens,' said Gozali. Angga added: 'The problem is there's a big mismatch between the limited number of screens and growing numbers of productions. This year, local movies have a market share of 78%, so exhibitors automatically give more slots to the Indonesian films.' The panel also talked about the potential for co-production with Indonesia. While many arthouse and festival-friendly films have been set up as co-productions with Indonesia, Angga said there's also potential for collaboration on commercial movies, especially animation: 'We need international partners because firstly, making animation is not cheap, it's twice the budget of an action movie, so we need strategic partners to bring the IP overseas, and also get more insights into how to improve the quality of our product.' Vaslin talked about his experiences co-producing Indonesian filmmaker Mouly Surya's This City Is A Battlefield, a historical drama set during the Dutch colonial period, which was the closing film of this year's International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film, which pieced together its financing during the pandemic, also had co-producers from Singapore, Philippines, Norway and Cambodia. 'We asked them what do you need from us because you're already in a complex situation on many levels, but they needed three Dutch actors. We also did some VFX and raised the Hubert Bals funding,' Vaslin explained. Periscoop Film, founded by San Fu Maltha and Submarine, released the film in the Netherlands around the same time it was released in Indonesia. Vaslin joked that the Netherlands should be now colonized by Indonesia as the film took 126,000 admissions in its home market, compared to 10,000 admissions in the Netherlands, due to the vastly differing size of their respective populations. Since the film was made, Netherlands and Indonesia have signed an official co-production treaty, and a growing number of Dutch projects are planning to shoot in Indonesia. Tatishvili talked about how Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) has also supported other Indonesian productions, including Kamila Andini's upcoming Four Seasons In Java, but also suggested that Netherlands-Indonesia collaboration could go beyond the treaty and HBF to explore talent development and infrastructure. 'I'd be very interested to explore more of what's happening in Indonesia on a stakeholder level, and on a policy level, for supporting talent and creating new forms of financial support,' said Tatishvili. 'There's so much happening in Indonesia, I don't think just applying for funding is enough. We could look at launching joint programs to give Indonesia access to international producers and expertise.' JAFF Market, which hosted the panel, is holding a series of activities at Cannes. Reza Rahadian's project Pangku is screening in the 'HAF Goes to Cannes' program in the Marche. In addition, three Indonesian projects – Locust from indie publisher Kosmik, Bryan Valeza's Bandits Of Batavia and re:ON Comics' JITU (Joint Intelligence And Tactical Unit) – were featured in Spotlight Asia's IP Adaptation showcase. JAFF Market also held a series of networking events. The second edition of JAFF Market is taking place November 29 to December 1 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, alongside Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About Ari Aster's 'Eddington' So Far
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Thailand Revives Bangkok International Film Festival With First Edition Planned For January
Thailand's new film agency, Thailand Creative Content Agency (THACCA), has confirmed that the country is relaunching its Bangkok International Film Festival on a large scale in January, 2026. Dr. Surapong Suebwonglee, Chairman of the National Soft Power Development Committee of Thailand, announced the news during a Cannes Marche panel in which he also outlined THACCA's vision for supporting and expanding the vibrant Thai film industry. More from Deadline Tom Cruise Shows Up To Celebrate 'Mission: Impossible' Filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie At Cannes Masterclass Legendary Musician & Brazilian Culture Minister Margareth Menezes On Rebuilding The Country's Film Sector & Regulating Streamers: "We Want What Is Fair" Global Constellation Boards Sales On Paris-Set Queer Animation 'Jim Queen' While exact dates are yet to be announced, the revived festival will take place around the second week of January, ending before the Sundance Film Festival kicks off on January 22. Thai producer and critic Donsaron Kovitvanitcha, currently director of the World Film Festival in Bangkok, will be artistic director of the new event, which will include a section for international films and a separate program for Thai movies. 'The international audience can come to see what's going on in Thai cinema across the whole range of both artistic and mainstream movies,' Donsaron explained. The event will also have a market and industry component headed by Thai producer and director Pantham Thongsang, which will also include pitching sessions and year-round workshops. Meanwhile, a wider Thai cultural event, showcasing all aspects of Thailand's creative industries including film, food and fashion, will be held in Bangkok in July. Also during the THACCA panel, Dr. Surapong outlined the advantages of working with Thailand, which include a 30% production rebate, experienced crews, rising actors and directors and a vibrant post-production sector. He also shared that Thailand is in the process of negotiating a series of co-production treaties. 'We have a rising creative force, along with a robust public-private partnership; we also have talent, competitive costs and world-class stories,' Dr. Surapong said. He also explained the many funding and talent development initiatives of the new Thailand Creative Content Agency (THACCA), which will officially launch next year but has already handed out $6.4m (THB220m) to 86 Thai projects in its first funding round. One of the projects supported by the new fund is A Useful Ghost, directed by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, which is premiering here in Critics Week. Produced by Cattleya Paosrijaroen and Soros Sukhum at Thailand's 185 Films, the film is co-produced by Singapore's Momo Film Co and France's Haut Les Mains. Also in Cannes, THACCA is holding a pitching event (May 19-20 at the Thai Pavilion) for three projects from filmmakers who are following up their award-winning debuts. The three selected projects, which have also received support from the new fund, include The Blind Earthworm In The Labyrinth, from Taiki Sakpisit (The Edge Of Daybreak); Ghost Of The Currents, from Patiparn Boontarig (Solids By The Seashore) and Ray Of Light from Nontawat Numbenchapol (Doi Boy). The old Bangkok International Film Festival, organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, came to a halt in 2006 when it emerged that the former Thai tourism minister, Juthamas Siriwan, was involved in defrauding the festival along with a U.S. couple, Gerald and Patricia Green, who were helping organize the event. Both Juthamas and the U.S. organizers were consequently imprisoned in their respective countries. Since that time, Thailand has hosted several smaller festivals, but never had a large-scale international event. The organizers of the new Bangkok International Film Festival are stressing that it will be organized by a non-profit organization with the support of THACCA and the Thai government. The new festival will open a call for entries in a few months. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far Book-To-Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2025
