Discoveries from Indonesia World Cinema

Struggling after a divorce, siblings Billy and Erika are taken in by Aunt Mary. Their lives shatter when a mysterious DVD exposes that their family's ruin was orchestrated by the dark crimes of Mary and their own father.

A serial killer struggles with an identity crisis, psychosis, and a toxic relationship. He’s trying to find a way to live a calmer, more peaceful life.

Using images from television news, he captures Indonesia as a country divided between modern, rational developments and old, exorcistical practices. Recordings of police raids sketch a picture of old medicine men as terrorists.

Story of 3 former political prisoners in the era of the anti-democratic Soeharto regime. They were a musician named MARKUS TALAM in a Buru Island concentration camp prison for 10 years, a radioman named SUKIMAN and an ordinary farmer named SUYATMAN both were detained in Blitar, East Java prison for 1 year, all without a judicial process. A military operation codenamed “TRISULA” was carried out in the South Blitar area, East Java, to purge the remnants of the members of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). They weren’t communists, just ordinary farmers who had been caught in that military operation, some of their family members were killed and tortured. Trauma haunts them throughout their lives and justice never served them. Through whispered stories, they hope that in their twilight they will get justice to restore political and citizen rights that were seized by the regime. This film is a story of a long and winding road with a big question, will justice come to those who are oppressed?

Case Closed! follows Detective Laura and her assistants Joe, Sam, Alvin and Bella as they go on their adventure to solve a robbery-turns-murder case.

Mello wants to create a beautiful painting, but he keeps erasing his sketches. One day, he meets a mysterious man who will help him finish his painting.

A young college man suffers with his unbearable self and family condition.

A woman sits alone, enjoying a peaceful moment in a seaside park, unaware that she is secretly being watched by a mysterious girl from afar. The girl's gaze conceals an unknown intention, creating a quiet tension in the air. Soon, an unexpected event unfolds, turning the calm afternoon into a startling moment that changes everything.

Plot under wraps

The shadows of childhood memories continue to haunt a young man suffering from a mental illness.

This video essay depicts how the New Order represented the bloody events of 1965. Lubang Buaya (Crocodile Hole/Well) is a dark hole. Until today, the hole/well could never reveal the real truth. But the narratives in form of monuments, relief, dioramas, and the site itself; depicted that the events happened then were real. The events about how the betrayal of a common ideology was considered right.

Pia, a Chinese-Indonesian girl raised in a Minang community, falls in love with Yusril, a young doctor. Their relationship faces cultural and traditional barriers when Yusril’s family tries to arrange his marriage to his cousin. Amid family pressure and financial hardship, the two fight to keep their love alive.

His script was criticized for being “lacking life.” Darren, a young writer at a loss for direction, tries to rewrite it. However, something unusual happens: the events he wrote about begin to occur in the real world, exactly as he imagined. From the ridiculous to the illogical, Darren begins to realize that this is no coincidence. What he imagines becomes real, and his life slowly becomes its own story. Well That's Life is a surreal short film about absurdity, imagination, and the blurring of boundaries between fiction and reality. So… who really wrote the ending?

Plot under wraps.

Plot under wraps.

A beautiful ghost woman returns to terrorize a group of people. She is accompanied by her partner, a homosexual spirit. This time, they focus their efforts on an obese man, his rotund wife, and a beautiful woman.

In the village, no one aspires to become an ustaz anymore. A seven-year-old boy named Awang struggles to find his dream amid the chaos of the end times. a reality he must confront, until his dilemma deepens when the only ustaz in the village passes away. With the community suddenly left without a religious leader, Awang’s unease and restlessness push him further into his search for meaning and the true shape of his aspirations.

When someone prompted an A.I chat box, 1 and 0 out of curiosity, goes on vacation through the internet. They questioning love and choices that human do.

A grandmother does her best to keep her granddaughter happy, hoping it's enough to be remembered.

A short film by Mohammad Ifdhal

During the political coup of 1965, a man accused of being a communist decided to learn magic power in order to take revenge of the serial killer who murdered his wife. However, after the revenge is carried out, he still cannot get over the death of his beloved wife.

Our paths converge in Eskisehir, Turkey, for a reunion with a dear friend from Indonesia. As she cooked her family's traditional recipes, we explored the nuances of residing away from home, and the interplay of light and darkness in our lives.

Munir biopic. Adapted from book with the same title

A student finds a secret afterschool cult.

The voice of Miriam de la Croix’s letter covers the life of a botanist and her three children. The letter contains Miriam de la Croix’s compassion for the plight of the Dutch East Indies under European colonial rule, especially the Netherlands. The content of the letter became the background sound in the activities of a botanist in doing modern work and science with her three children that day, where modernity and science in the Indies actually came together with European colonialism.

As a musician who cares about Nusantara music, Ridho Hafiedz realizes that the wealth of musical instruments in many regions is threatened with extinction and almost lost. Bali, as an island that has long been known for its sustainable arts and culture, is also no exception to facing similar threats. Ridho, together with Yura Yunita, a musician from West Java, took a Nada Nusantara trip to Karangasem, Bali, to trace the trail of a musical instrument that has a long historical record called “penting”.

Biru, a college student who dreams of making his mother happy, is shaken by the news of her passing and seeks comfort from his girlfriend, Tara.

A teacher who loves his students in the wrong way

A network of images drawn from the archive of Torajan videographer, Victor, collide to paint a journal-like portrait of both his community and personal life, its grief and its joy.

Tells the story of Tijah, the child of a contract laborer during the Dutch colonial era in Deli. Her beauty attracted the attention of Bustaman and Mr. Pieter Dikkert. When Bustaman was about to propose, it turned out that she had been used as a servant and concubine in Pieter Dikkert's house until she became pregnant. However, Bustaman still wants Tijah. He was caught trying to meet TIjah until Tijah was thrown out and separated by her son. A year later, when she had recovered, it was Bustaman who reunited Tijah with her teenage son.

The film depicts a group of children playing in a swimming pool in Aceh, Indonesia, working through their fear of water following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

In 1983, art student Subarkah joined the production of Indonesia’s most controversial film titled “The Betrayal of The Communist Party.” Subarkah was tasked with handling the makeup for the generals’ corpses. Forty years later, Subarkah recalls the memories of portraying this tumultous history in film.

Zhafran, a 15-year-old teenager who often worships at the mosque but his family has just become poor because his father is addicted to online gambling. One day, Zhafran asks for help from his best friend named Genius, or often called "us" to help him steal money from the charity box at the mosque.

Project SUPERIA (Suara Perempuan Indonesia or Voices of Indonesian Women) is a multi-disciplinary artistic storytelling project created to explore the diversity and complexities of Indonesian women’s experiences, through film and theatre production. SUPERIA short film, the first introduction of Project SUPERIA, features 7 women from various professions, ages, ethnicities, and sexuality sharing their experiences and perspectives on bodies, motherhood, relationships, etc. All have very nuanced lives and values, yet face intersecting challenges in facing societal expectations.

Ara, Dika dan Raka have lived as street children since childhood. Their meeting with a vloger began to make them curious about family food which was asked by the vloger. This film wants to tell that family is not only about biologically having a father, mother, child, sibling, and the form of a biological family in general, can these 3 children who are not related by blood not be considered as family.

Laras was pressured to reveal her decision to be child-free when her mother in law asked her to adopt a child.

The impact of fishermen regeneration on the coastal areas of the southern coast of Yogyakarta, which is famous for its ferocious waves.

Lia is an ordinary college girl who tries to find the meaning of happiness. Loving a man named Fatur is her happiness, but God does not approve of her.

Young Marty loves the open sea, much like his father, which is of major concern for his mother since his father died at sea when Marty was a baby. Now her son has gone missing on a sailing voyage. Many years later she meets a young man who looks exactly like him, but he does not recognize her. Could this be Marty and has he finally found his way back home?

Abyan is a child who has not received the affection of his parents. It makes him express himself through pictures. Like children in general, Abyan also wants a family filled with affection.

Two boys named Dimas and Wingky disappeared mysteriously because they violated the taboos in the area known as Pamali. They played with sacred prayers, causing their faith to weaken and making them easily tempted by genies and demons.

Two teenage girls named Mitta and Mikha, they were both forced to move to their old house where they grew up. However, when they arrived home, many terrible things happened to in their old house.

A heartwarming fantasy-adventure about a young mermaid and a human prince whose unlikely meeting and growing bond offer hope of unity between their worlds.

Maira, the all known smartest girl in Senior High got her life turned upside down miserably when her nude video got leaked in her school's Instagram account.