Discoveries from Indonesia World Cinema

Herman, a customs officer assigned to eradicate smuggling, often loses his temper. When a smuggler’s ship is reported, he immediately orders a search-and-destroy but it’s a reckless act that results in the easy escape of other ships. Then Herman is posted to the mainland as punishment. Here, he reunites with an old friend, Rusli, who offers him a bribe. Herman is now a suspect as several of smuggling ships are able to escape. But it is Herman’s strategy to gain Rusli’s trust so that he can eradicate smuggling at its root. He is reposted back to sea.

Some rich gangster creep rapes a gal. He's imbued with black magic powers by some other guy. Stuff happens leading up to the greatest endgame of all time.

Haura (Inez Ayu), who lives with her brother Yaser (Ryan Qori), and her brother-in-law Zizi (Ressa Rere), canceled their marriage to Shidiq.

Four young Linda (Melody Prima), Billy (Simon Rama), Ramzi (Taufan Himalay) and Dave (Avip Pard) joined the ghost hunter club JAKARTA GHOST SEEKERS (JGS) got a new case cleaning the house of Agnes (Any Kusuma Dewi) who was haunted . This beautiful widow is very worried that this will disturb the recovery of her oldest daughter Sabrina (Glencha Chysara) who is seriously ill; accompanied by Iyem (Yatti Surahman) and his younger sister Megi (Alisha). JGS found that there was a great problem more than a ghost disorder. Event after event gave a big mystery clue that turned out to be related to Sabrina himself. They asked for help from Mama Marina who had an inner vision for this problem. JGS and Merina began to see the bright spots of what happened to Sabrina was the practice of cruel use. Based on a book they found JGS began to uncover this mystery.

This is the second Indonesian Tarzan film with Barry Prima. The previous one was Tarzan Raja Rimba made in 1989.

Dinar falls for Faiz, who brings color to her dull life. Amid their romance, she faces mounting troubles—unpaid tuition, her late father’s debts, and her mother’s cancer. Then, Firman, a wealthy man, offers her an easy escape—but at the cost of betraying Faiz.

One of the best Indonesian children’s films, distinguished by not being a fairytale as other films popular at the time, My Harmonica combines humour, mischief and naivety. Sani is an orphan who is raised by his grandmother in the village. His parents died when he was little. His teachers think that he can develop further if he goes to Jakarta to study. Reluctantly, Sani agrees. So in Jakarta, he stays with the younger sibling of his teacher, but he faces problems. The most intriguing part is his wish to have a harmonica, a new instrument that he has never seen before.

The news of death is a part of the trade for Harjo, an old man who lives by selling coffins. One issue stalled his long preparation for his own demise, which actually would lead him to the start of another journey.

Sheila was asked by her brother, Rijal, to sell his laptop. As it turned out, before the laptop gets to Sheila, a fraud took the laptop from the post office. Sheila, Rijal, and their friends traced the disappearance of the laptop through the ID card that had been sent by the fraud.

One day Silvia (Annabella Jusuf) meets with Anto (Faiz Zaldi) who idolizes Michael Jackson. The child has leukemia. Silvia wants to comfort him. She asksfor help to her boyfriend Fadly Jackson to be Michael Jackson Impersonator again for the last time. But it is not an easy thing for Fadly, because of his work as a film producer, and he has not seen his friends since his MJ Dance group was disbanded. He must rediscover all his friends in order to follow an annual competition Dance In The City to entertain Anto, and to face the toughest rivals: Black Cat, who won the competition by cheating.

Bagong became a hit-and-run victim. Fantar, his friend, can't believe that Bagong died. This makes Bagong spirits return to the real world. They both also tried to find hit-and-run perpetrators.

Kinetik tells the story of the lives of three young people named Karim, Dhea, and Kevin, who have each achieved success in their respective fields. Karim works as an interior designer, Dhea is a dancer, and Kevin is a programmer. However, the three of them feel that they are not yet satisfied with the success they have achieved. Because of this, they decide to contribute to their surrounding community by renovating and redesigning a roadside school.

The Quiet Beside Me

STORIES FROM THE BOUNDARIES invites the audience to travel to the borders of the country and hear stories from there. These three figures of ordinary people (Martini, Kusnadi, and Ella) are the story tellers. There are many stories that have not been revealed in society. Everyday problems such as the availability of educational, health and social protection facilities for the community are retold through the personal stories of these three ordinary people. For the three figures above, being Indonesian is a tough test. They have to live a hard life in their own country while not far away the country of Malaysia seduces with all the existing establishments.

A younger sister innocently shares her new love story with her elder sister. Behind the elder’s warm smile lies a deadly secret. With the help of a neighboring drink seller, poison is slipped into a glass. When the younger sister dies, the elder shifts the blame onto the unsuspecting neighbor.

A girl died. An earring was left in one of her ears. So the investigation began to an import company that had a martial arts association. A policewoman was smuggled there. It turned out that this company was trafficking women abroad. So the raid was carried out by Santara, the police's top detective.

The Shadow Master returns with the power of the Sea Pearl to sink the world. To defeat him, Paddle Pop and his friends must adventure in the sea and find Magus, a legendary lion who can teach Paddle Pop to use his powers in the sea.

Newlyweds Merry (Lydia Kandou) and Andi (Ray Sahetapy) have to say goodbye to Anita’s parents who are going abroad for a holiday. Aunt and Uncle (Zainal Abidin, Ida Kusumah) have been asked to watch over them. While Merry and Andi are at the airport to see the parents off, a sweet looking girl comes up and kisses Andi and gives him a message for another young woman. Confusion ensues. Merry becomes suspicious. In the midst of this atmosphere of suspicion, Andi has to take part in an office meeting in Puncak. Even worse, after the meeting, Andi’s boss invites him to a party and after that Andi has to go to Bandung on business. Andi calls Merry, who has taken Andi’s joking around with his servant Kadir about women seriously, to inform her of these plans, and she tells him that she wants to separate from him.

With a cast of dangdut singers and dangdut groups, this film also highlights a dangdut music festival. H. Imron forbids his daughter Diana to sing dangdut. Her outdoor activities are watched carefully. Meanwhile, Diana teaches their talented housemaid, Itje, to sing dangdut. Later she takes part in the dangdut music festival.

Dika, a drug retailer, told his close friend, Gina, about what happened the previous two nights. That night, Bang Jaka, a drug distributor to a retailer, forced Dika and his best friend Ambi to take a revolver that had been loaded with a bullet. They were told to take turns using the revolvers to pull the trigger against their own heads until one of them was shot. Dika told him that this happened because his friend, Tania, had informed Bang Jaka about their activity selling counterfeit drugs in order to increase profits.

A movement to criminalize men with long hair, commonly referred to as "gondrong". during Indonesia’s New Order era gave rise to various negative stereotypes that continue to be attached to long-haired men to this day. However, this criminalization stemmed from motivations far deeper than mere concerns over hairstyle and was closely tied to the authoritarian leadership of the period. These underlying factors are explored in a short documentary titled “Gondrongisme.”

A group of elementary school children are playing a traditional game called "pletokkan" (traditional gun) on the empty field. They are shooting each other. One by one they fall dead, leaving behind two people who both do not want to lose.

A housewife is running errands, such as getting the children ready for school and preparing breakfast while her husband is still asleep and shows no care for his wife's tasks at hand. The wife asks the husband to take the children to school, but the husband continues to sleep. This angers the wife, but she takes the children to school anyway. She doesn't realize it's Sunday.

Set during the kingdom of Majapahit after the reign of King Hayam Wuruk, the Saur Sepuh films were based on the popular radio plays in the 80s. Lasmini is raped and thrown into a ravine, but is saved by Granny Lawu. She is then taught martial arts until the granny dies. Then Lasmini leaves the mountain to find her rapists and kills them one by one. One day, she has a fight with Mantili because she is close to Bentar. Then Lasmini returns to Mount Lawu to improve her martial arts. After learning new skills, she returns to challenge all the martial arts experts and is victorious. Mantili then goes to improve his skills from Brama and challenges Lasmini. Now Lasmini is defeated.

Kafka never believe in ghost, but somehow he always gets the chance to see the ghost with her medicine basket thinking that she's human.

Dyah and her son travel to the city to make a dead certificate for her husband, Wiji Thukul, who is an Indonesian poet. Dyah's journey turned into something strange since her family holds into belief that he is still alive.

Tells the story of love and marriage between Fajar and Rahma, who come from Javanese and Minang cultures, as well as the conflicts that arise due to differences in family traditions on both sides.

Hara (Robert Syarief) does not approve of the relationships of his daughters, Rosa (Lia Waroka) and Ira (Kiki Fatmala), with Kadir (Kadir) and Doyok (Doyok Sudarmadji). However, eventually, because the persistent young men appear to be serious, Harja eventually agrees to allow Kadir and Doyok to prove that they are financially independent enough to make it on their own. The two young men then scramble to try to find a way to make some money. First, they try working in a bakery, then they gets jobs as cooks, and then at a poultry farm, etc. They fail at everything they try. A sub storyline tells about Abud (Fuad Alkhar) who is extremely eager to get married.

Like the film’s title, Parody of the Capital resembles a sketch of the community. Oom Pasikom, a cab driver, is stingy because of his measly income. Conversely, his wife moves within the high social circle and is a spendthrift due to her business as jewelry broker. Through Oom Pasikom’s glasses, small stories of the city are told - the ladies’ social gathering, lonely wives, the cleaning of the city and how it affects the small businesses, a student who is writing her thesis and so on.

In 1947, the Indonesian first diplomatic mission arrived in Cairo without passport, to gain recognition over Indonesian sovereignty. They were having series of tackles, which putting the fate of Egypt and Indonesia in the hands of traitor.

Juno, an ordinary man, always feels insecure because he has a beautiful girlfriend, while Trish, a beautiful woman, is always played by men. They never expected to meet in a place full of wonders, a place that would determine their love lives, in a lucid dream.

The Salman family have four children, all boys. They are Bagus, the handsome who’s shy toward girls; Alim the troublemaker; Rizky who has low intelligence; and Vina, the pretty boy obsessed with K-Pop style. Both of their parents die in an accident when they’re picking up Alim from jail. The Salman children then have to be on their own.

Ryan, a new student, finds difficulties in adjusting to the lessons. This becomes the beginning of his meetings with Laras, a clever and modest girl, who helps him. The intimacy between Ryan and Laras causes Anggie to get jealous. So Anggie and her friends gang up on Laras, and this misunderstanding causes a rift with Ryan. Then Ryan admits that he is in love with Laras.

When a pornographic VCD gets stuck inside the VCD player due to a power failure, An adolescence boy must race against time to pull it out before his menacing father finds out

Add the Plot.

Four young spirit determined to form their own band and thrive.

A young Screenwriter and Director are reading together the script they are going to film. They agree to tell a story about the nature of human behavior but forget that they are also human.

Monica scours archive material for answers to the question of how queer life in Berlin and the wish to be accepted by their Christian-Indonesian parents can be reconciled.

The married couple Jiwo and Josephine who decide to elope, because they did not get Josephine's blessing. After eloping, they then decided to live in a house and ended up having to face interference from spirits. Josephine, who was pregnant, became more sensitive to these things and continued to be disturbed by interference from these supernatural creatures.

An ambitious female employee who accidentally witnessed an inappropriate incident at work and she contemplates what to do with that secret.

What if God has a vlog?

Set in a high school navigating Indonesia’s new “Merdeka Curriculum,” this graduation film follows a group of students grappling with the pressures of modern education. As projects pile up and expectations rise, they begin questioning the very system that promised them freedom. Through reflection, resistance, and growth, they discover what it truly means to learn, and to be heard.

About the world of teenagers with all their problems and mischief. But in the end, it can be channeled in a healthy way

The efforts of Silvester, an artist who is also a civil servant at the East Flores Regency Tourism Office, in taking part in a cultural festival in his area, Lewolema, Indonesia. The Lewolema indigenous people for almost half a century have not recognized their space for cultural expression. Festivals, he believes, are celebrations where cultural egalitarian spaces are recreated. This film also portrays how to place artistic work in an effort to maintain heritage and traditions with tourism which has a different way.

Mega spends her days working as an online motorcycle taxi driver, navigating the harsh streets while caring for her sick child. An unexpected event gradually brings to light a secret she has kept hidden all this time. In the end, it is revealed that everything she has done was simply to fulfill her child’s one final request.

Anton, a village gambler who is deeply in debt, has no money left. This drives him to resort to black magic at Kali Urip under the guidance of Mbah Djiwo, a village shaman who seems somewhat dubious, in order to get money quickly. Armed with offerings, meditation, and strange spells, Anton performs the ritual at Kali Urip. However, this leads to absurd terror in his own home. When the terror of a female ghost in a white robe appeared, the situation grew increasingly chaotic until it was revealed that the ghost they feared was merely a patient who had escaped from mental hospital.

Sukma (40) wants to prove that she did not steal Tutikk's (48) ring, but because of her poor economic condition and because of what happened in the past Sukma is not trusted.

Kang Aries and Kang Oca are two cultural observers of Kujang who try to provide a justification perspective on the Kujang Philosophy made by one of the blacksmiths named Abah Jajang, where the general public often considers that Kujang is a sharp weapon. The two of them "Kang Aris & Kang Oca" entered the realm of the trial to defend the essence of Kujang, so as not to be considered misunderstood by the general public.

A Theater student named Laras witnesses her friends rehearsing for a performance. At the same time, Laras is in the middle of conflict with someone from her house hold

Kefas, a Catholic school student, struggles with his faith while living in a Muslim-majority neighborhood. His inner conflict leads him on a journey toward true forgiveness.

A one-handed warrior sets out to avenge his parents death and retrieve the mythical Whip of Fire and Wind, which has been stolen by bad guy Bagaspati.

A Malaysian mother, Ida (Nadiya Nisaa), loses her asthmatic daughter, Fasha (Naomi Ivana), at a Jakarta mall. Desperate, she seeks help from a security officer, Hidayat (Mike Lucock), and Anton (Donny Alamsyah), a supposed ex-policeman.

The Shadow Master allys with Queen Felina, the leader of the White Tiger nation, who holds a grudge against the Lion nation.

The cousins, Heru and Retno, have the sixth sense. Heru can see ghosts and Retno can feel their presence. This shared experience makes the two close since childhood. Retno is also in love with Heru. But Heru feels that it is impossible to be in a romantic relationship with his own cousin. After Heru grows up, he goes to study at the Jakarta Arts Institute, and then starts to date Rianti. Retno is broken hearted when she finds out and she has a car accident. Retno’s death troubles Heru and Rianti’s marriage. Heru is bound to his oath with Retno, that whoever dies first, will come back to tell the living about the afterlife.

As Ratna, a filmmaker, approaches her wedding day, she learns what it's like to be a model housewife.

Stranded on an isolated road with a broken-down car, a girl reconnects with her father over a phone call.

When a young girl walks home alone at night, something sinister lurks in the shadows, which beckons along with the ringing of bells, to remind her the true meaning of oblivion.