JAKARTA: Jakarta Deputy Governor Rano Karno hopes the city will have its own film festival showcasing Indonesian blockbuster movies, an initiative hoped to strengthen the capital’s role in advancing the national film industry.
Even though the city has already had the Jakarta Film Week (JFW), which is organised annually by the city’s Tourism and Creative Economy Agency, the actor-cum-politician said that it has yet to feature commercially successful movies.
Last year, JFW received 140 submissions from 55 countries, many of which were smaller, independent films. The festival also offers funding support for curated short film projects.
“There should be a film festival [in Jakarta] featuring blockbuster movies,” Rano said on Saturday.
“If there's a Bandung Film Festival or Jogja Asian Film Festival, I want to create a Jakarta Film Festival. There must be the word ‘Jakarta’ in it. That will be the goal”.
He was speaking at a South Jakarta movie theatre on Saturday (April 12), after watching the widely acclaimed Indonesian animated film Jumbo, which has attracted over three million viewers within its first two weeks in theatres – making it the highest-grossing local animated movie to date.
Film analyst Hikmat Darmawan welcomed the idea but stressed the need for balance, noting that support for blockbuster films should not come at the expense of independent creators who often operate with much smaller budgets.
He noted that a movie will be considered a blockbuster in Indonesia when its production budget exceeds Rp 15 billion (US$890,000), naming Jumbo an example, which reportedly cost around Rp 20 billion.
“Having a festival for blockbuster films is a great idea, but it should not neglect low- to mid-budget works.”
Hikmat also urged the government to take a more holistic approach by supporting the industry beyond just festivals, especially when it comes to data transparency. He said the country still lacks proper oversight of box office performance.
“Now people can only guess the total gross revenue [of a movie] since we only have access to ticket sales data,” Hikmat said on Monday, adding that a centralised body to monitor and verify box office data is essential. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
