Film History

The Other Side of Indonesia: New Order’s Indonesian Exploitation Cinema as Cult Films

Ekky Imanjaya30 April 2016

Indonesian exploitation films from the 1980s employed subversive and exploitative techniques to struggle against a dominant order. Produced under the New Order Regime, the films positioned their villains and criminals as symbols of the Suharto government.... Read More

FocusInternational0 Comments 138 min read

Beranak dalam Kubur: Sjumandjaja’s Revisionist Horror

Windu Jusuf22 March 2016

The oddness of Beranak dalam Kubur as an Indonesian horror film materializes as a kind of breakthrough—a revision to the previous Indonesian horror films, especially ones heavily embedded with elements of occult.... Read More

InternationalReview0 Comments 012 min read

The Feminine Grotesque in Indonesian Horror Films

Veronika Kusumaryati15 March 2016

The feminine grotesque is a central motif in the explosion of Indonesian horror films following the end of the New Order regime (1967-1998). The presentation of female as both monster and victim always implies and is based on the conservative ideology, i.e patriarchal society.... Read More

FocusInternational2 Comments 125 min read

Questioning Film Nasional

Thomas Barker29 November 2015

National cinema in Indonesia is called "film nasional", and commonly appears in commentary, scholarship, and discussions of film and the film industry. One of its ambitions is to be "tuan di rumah sendiri" or "master in one’s own house", meaning that Indonesian films should become prolific and popular enough to beat imported films at the box-office.... Read More

FocusInternational0 Comments 040 min read

Alternative Histories of Indonesian Cinema

Adrian Jonathan Pasaribu29 November 2015

Is it true that the movement of Indonesian cinema culture only goes up and down in the box-office rankings, but does not expand to the whole archipelago?... Read More

FocusInternational0 Comments 022 min read

A Fragmented History: Short Films in Indonesia

Dimas Jayasrana29 November 2015

The period of 1999 to 2004 was a golden period for Indonesian short films. The growth of myriad film communities and cine-clubs, ignited by technological breakthroughs and social upheavals, helped spur the spirit of Indonesian short films. And the Indonesian films in general.... Read More

FocusInternational1 Comment 030 min read

An Ode to Celluloid

Adrian Jonathan Pasaribu29 November 2015

Cinema perpetuates histories, including ours. Unfortunately cinema as a storage medium, in any format, have a finite lifespan. Someday we might have trouble accessing our own memories.... Read More

InternationalPerspective0 Comments 09 min read

Focus

Measuring the Heartbeat of Indonesian Film Industry

Power and Adaptation: Film Adaptations from Novels in 1950s Indonesia

When East Meets West: American and Chinese Influences on Early Indonesian Action Cinema

Perspective

Beyond the Boxoffice: On the Cultural Relevance of Indonesian Cinema

Propaganda Belongs to the People: Lab Laba Laba and Indonesia’s New Order Propaganda Films

Travels and Travails: Cosmopolitan Muslims in Indonesian Cinema

Wide Angle

Film Projectionist at the End of the Reel

The Slow Death of Cinema in Aceh

Sinematek and Film Preservation in Indonesia

Review

Beranak dalam Kubur: Sjumandjaja’s Revisionist Horror

Lewat Djam Malam: For a Nation of Dreams and Dead Ends

Film History

The Other Side of Indonesia: New Order’s Indonesian Exploitation Cinema as Cult Films

Beranak dalam Kubur: Sjumandjaja’s Revisionist Horror

The Feminine Grotesque in Indonesian Horror Films

Questioning Film Nasional

Alternative Histories of Indonesian Cinema

A Fragmented History: Short Films in Indonesia

An Ode to Celluloid