Tag: film reviews
Beyond the Literal: Re-evaluating Tentang Dia as a Queer Landmark in Indonesian Cinema
Two decades after its initial release in 2005, Rudy Soedjarwo’s Tentang Dia continues to provoke debate. Recently, a viral TikTok discussion reignited interest in the film, positioning it not merely as a drama about friendship, but as a quiet, revolutionary pioneer of sapphic or Women Loving Women (WLW) narratives in early 2000s Indonesian cinema. While […]
Beyond the Spotlight: Mapping the Global Recognition of Indonesian Cinema
This report is based on a collaborative research project between Cinema Poetica and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia. The analysis was conducted through a rigorous process of data gathering, processing, and interpretation of digital media footprints and official publications from both domestic and international film festivals. Executive Summary: A New Era […]
The Ghost of the Box Office: Why Panji Tengkorak Faded into the Shadows of Indonesian Cinema
In the landscape of contemporary Indonesian animation, few projects carried the weight of cultural heritage and industry expectation quite like Panji Tengkorak. Directed by Daryl Wilson and produced by Falcon Pictures, the film—an ambitious revival of Hans Jaladara’s iconic 1968 comic book legend—was meant to be a cornerstone of a burgeoning animation ecosystem. Yet, when […]
Beyond the Red Carpet: Mapping the Global Renaissance of Indonesian Cinema
This report is based on a collaborative research project conducted by Cinema Poetica and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the international recognition of Indonesian films, synthesized through rigorous data processing and an examination of digital media archives, festival publications, and global industry reports. 1. […]
Through the Lens of Vulnerability: Deconstructing Gina S. Noer’s ‘Like & Share’ and the Digital Age of Consent
In her seminal 2003 essay, Regarding the Pain of Others, cultural critic Susan Sontag posited that we exist in an era where reality is fundamentally constructed by spectacle. The camera, she argued, serves as an apparatus that grants spectators access to experiences that would otherwise remain beyond their reach. Yet, this accessibility invites a harrowing […]
The Silent Screen: Analyzing the Absence of Cinema Policy in the 2024 Indonesian Election Agenda
Cinema is inherently political. From the inception of a script to the final frame projected on a screen, the medium intersects with the most strategic sectors of public life: freedom of expression, the allocation of state resources, and the fundamental pursuit of livelihood. While in an idealized world, cinema is a pure manifestation of technological […]
Beyond the Frame: Deconstructing Meta-Cinema in "Jatuh Cinta Seperti di Film-film"
In the landscape of contemporary Indonesian cinema, few films have managed to interrogate the medium of filmmaking itself with as much tenderness and biting wit as Yandy Laurens’ Jatuh Cinta Seperti di Film-film (2023). Moving beyond the tropes of the romantic comedy genre, the film functions as a sophisticated piece of meta-cinema—a movie about the […]
Beyond the Hype: Decoding the Sociocultural Resonance of Jumbo
When the curtains were finally beginning to close on the theatrical run of the Indonesian animated feature Jumbo, and the official box office count had already surpassed ten million admissions, I finally decided to step into a cinema to see what all the noise was about. To be perfectly honest, I had been reluctant—even resistant. […]
The Unfortunate Eclipse: Why ‘Panji Tengkorak’ Became a Forgotten Legend of 2025
The Indonesian animation industry has long been a battlefield of ambition, talent, and harsh commercial reality. In late August 2025, the highly anticipated feature film Panji Tengkorak, directed by Daryl Wilson, entered this arena with high hopes. Yet, within less than a month of its release, the film vanished from cinema screens, leaving behind a […]
The Architecture of Silence: An Analytical Deep Dive into Kamila Andini’s ‘Before, Now & Then (Nana)’
Kamila Andini has long established herself as a filmmaker who masterfully translates the abstract language of human emotion into tangible, often surreal, visual grammar. In her past works—the grief-stricken choreography of Sekala Niskala (The Seen and Unseen) or the poignant, installation-like mirror trees in The Mirror Never Lies—Andini demonstrated an uncanny ability to externalize the […]
