Indonesia Is Booming With Local Content & International Co-Productions; Lack Of Incentives Remains A Challenge — Filmart

Indonesia is booming with local content, international co-productions and a vibrant box office, although overseas distribution and the absence of film incentives remain weaknesses, said film professionals currently working in Indonesia, on a panel at Hong Kong’s Filmart.

Indonesia’s culture minister, Fadli Zon, was also present at the panel, alongside a delegation from the Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong.

Justin Kim, head of international production at CJ ENM, has been steadily growing the Korean entertainment powerhouse‘s footprint in Indonesia since 2014.

Kim said that CJ ENM’s foray into the Indonesian film industry started out with the conglomerate giving out a few awards at Busan’s Asian Project Market in 2014, including for a “most anticipated” project, which was given to Joko Anwar’s A Copy of My Mind.

At that time, Kim was an international sales manager and CJ ENM ended up representing the film. Anwar’s feature travelled to the Venice, Toronto, Busan and Rotterdam film festivals.

This convinced CJ ENM that working in Indonesia with the country’s talents would be a fruitful endeavor and help to expand the company’s businesses and network abroad.

“Getting into the major film festivals was quite a phenomenal thing for us,” said Kim. “We were really happy, as it was very hard for us to get into these major film festivals with the Korean films that we were producing. It was a monumental fresh start for us.”

Kim has since overseen co-productions like Sweet 20, Cado Cado: Doctor 101, an Indonesian remake of Korean film Miss Granny (which has also been remade into eight other local languages) and horror hit Satan’s Slaves, among others.

However, finding the right theatrical window to release CJ ENM’s co-produced films in Indonesia has proven difficult amid the market’s crowded calendar.

“Because of the volume of films in Indonesia, it is difficult to find the right window for a theatrical release,” said Kim. “On the positive side, this shows the strength of film production in Indonesia with the country’s prolific output.”

Lorna Tee, founder at Mylab and international acquisitions advisor at Korea’s Barunson E&A, pointed out that the role of independent producers in Indonesia has sometimes been overlooked.

“The role of independent producers in the film ecosystem has to be given more support,” said Tee. “They are the foundation that creates the base for future growth; they do a lot of the work to cultivate and nurture new talents, encourage risk, as well as take the risk that studios are not willing to.”

Tee added that there should be more screens in Indonesia, and that the exhibition sector has become too cutthroat.

“What’s important is for a growth of a market is for the exhibition sector to allow for the diversity of films, and to grow and support local film releases in a way that does not kill a film if it’s not performing on day one or day two,” said Tee. “It’s become so cutthroat because there are so many films, and it’s understandable that they want to put the most profitable films out there.

“However, some films need a bit more time to build that word-of-mouth and to gain traction. The exhibition sector is the bastion of connection to the audience, as well as the big players and small players. It’s really important that they are able to come in and support that growth in a more healthy manner,” said Tee.

Edwin Nazir, producer and chairman of the Association of Indonesian Film Producers (APROFI), said that the introduction of government policies for film tax rebates and permits to support international co-productions will help to invigorate the Indonesian film industry.

Nazir says that Indonesia’s tax rebates and permits are the two areas he receives the most number of questions about, from overseas film professionals looking to shoot in Indonesia.

“This is something we’ve asked the authorities and the government has been trying to find the best scheme of funding to support international productions,” said Nazir. “For the tax and cash rebates, we’ve discussed this for several years but it’s still difficult in Indonesia, as for locations and permits, this goes to the local government, but for equipment and rental, this goes to the finance authorities.

“One thing we are trying to show to potential partners, is that even though we do not have a cash or tax rebate, shooting in Indonesia is still good for value,” added Nazir.

Yulia Evina Bhara, prolific Indonesian producer and founder of Kawankawan Media, highlighted that global distribution remains one of the biggest weaknesses in Indonesia’s film landscape, but co-production can help to bridge this gap in a few markets.

She has co-produced films like Stone Turtle, Tiger Stripes, Don’t Cry Butterfly and Autobiography, which have all picked up an array of top awards on the festival circuit.

“With Indonesian films, we still have a problem with distribution, so I think co-productions allow us to at least have the opportunity to bring the film overseas, particularly in our co-producers’ countries,” said Bhara.