Indonesia Launches Funding Scheme For International Co-Productions

Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology is launching a grant scheme to support co-productions between Indonesian and international filmmakers.

The first subsidy of its kind from Indonesia, the 1:1 matching grant scheme is backed by the country’s National Cultural Endowment Fund and can cover development, production and post-production, as well as international promotion and distribution activities.

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In order to apply, film projects need to be registered through an Indonesian producer or director who has previously received funding from an eligible international grant institution. Projects will be selected by a professional selection team. No cap has been set for individual projects.

Launching the initiative at Cannes film festival, Nadiem Makarim, Indonesia’s Minister Of Education, Culture, Research And Technology, said around $10M has been allocated to the fund, although that amount may be increased over time.

Makarim said: “In the last five years, many Indonesian film projects have received international grant support. We know that many Indonesian film projects have international potential. The matching fund is intended to increase and strengthen international collaborations initiated by these Indonesian filmmakers to make it to the international film circuits.”

Indonesia is the latest entrant to a funding network that has been developing rapidly across Southeast Asia over the past three to four years, and also includes grant schemes in Singapore, Philippines and Taiwan. Indonesian producers regularly collaborate with other producers in the region, but so far have not been able to contribute local government funding.

Among the Indonesian films that have recently won acclaim at international film festivals are Kamila Andini’s Before, Now And Then, which won best actress in Berlin last year, and Makbul Mubarak’s Autobiography, which won the Fipresci prize at last year’s Venice and went on to scoop more than a dozen other awards on the festival circuit.

Malaysian filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu’s Tiger Stripes, which premiered in Cannes Critics Week today, was co-produced by Indonesia’s Yulia Evina Bhara, among several other international producers.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) announced the signing of an agreement with Indonesia’s Jakarta Film Week to support Indonesian filmmakers at BiFan’s Asian Talent Exchange programme. Indonesian projects will also receive a boost from an agreement between the Focus Asia projects market at  Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, and Indonesian producers association APROFI.

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