Jakarta Film Week concludes

Jakarta Film Week, an international film festival that has become a symbol of the existence and revival of the film industry during the pandemic, is back for its fourth edition. Jakarta Film Week 2024 will be held from October 23-27, 2024, with a series of exciting programs ready to delight film enthusiasts and filmmakers within and outside the country. One of the flagship programs returning this year is Jakarta Film Fund 2024, a funding and mentoring support for short film production to maintain and develop the film ecosystem in Indonesia. Additionally, there will be a capacity-building program for young filmmakers to develop their ongoing film projects.

3 Selected Winners of Jakarta Film Fund 2024

Jakarta Film Fund 2024 serves as an incubator for emerging filmmakers in Indonesia, especially those based in Jakarta. The program is expected to be a platform for unique and powerful stories that represent the city of Jakarta. This year, Jakarta Film Fund received more submissions compared to the previous year. The selection process began with the selection of 20 shortlisted proposals, which then were further curated down to the 8 best projects.

After going through a rigorous curation and pitching process, 3 of the 8 projects were selected as the best film projects to receive a production grant of 50 million rupiah and access to Movielab Production facilities, which include mentorship in directing, scriptwriting, and editing. Additionally, these three film projects will have the opportunity to participate in Jakarta Film Fund screening competition during Jakarta Film Week 2024 event. Here are the three winners of Jakarta Film Fund 2024:

1. If You’re Happy, I’m Happy – by Lanyah Films, directed by Mauliya Maila R.
2. Piknik Bersama Maut – by Kapsul Waktu Studio, directed by Nara Nugroho
3. Followers – by 89 Films, directed by Kevin Rahardjo

Rina Damayanti, Festival Director of Jakarta Film Week 2024, said, “We are very proud of the enthusiasm shown by filmmakers in this year’s Jakarta Film Fund. This program is not only a space for young filmmakers to advance but also a reflection of the rich stories and culture that exist in Jakarta.”

Novi Hanabi, Program Manager of Jakarta Film Week 2024, added, “We hope that Jakarta Film Fund will continue to be a platform that brings forth films that can speak on both national and international stages. We also thank everyone who has supported this program.”

One of the judges stated, “This year’s selection process was very challenging due to the large number of high-quality submissions. We are confident that the three selected films will make a significant contribution to the Indonesian film industry.”

Producers Lab Program Scores Another Victory on the International Circuit

Jakarta Film Week also holds Producers Lab, a capacity-building program that helps filmmakers continue to grow. In its first year, Producers Lab developed the capacity of young talents to be ready to compete on an international scale. One of the proofs, this year, The Heirlooms, a project from Jakarta Film Week 2023, was selected to participate in the Goedam Residency at Goedam Campus 2024. The project was developed in Jakarta Film Week 2023’s Producers Lab program by producer Giovanni Rahmadeva. The project will be directed by Devina Sofiyanti, who has joined the residency program for one month under the mentorship of Jenna Ku, a professional practitioner from South Korea.

Goedam Residency, an affiliate program of Goedam Planning & Development Camp, first collaborated with Jakarta Film Week in 2023 as a creative support initiative for emerging Asian creators to develop their screenplays in Bucheon. This residency allows creators to draw inspiration from Bucheon’s rich cultural environment, known for its vibrant genre content and offers various educational programs in collaboration with Fantastic Film School. It aims to support emerging Asian filmmakers and help them build international networks.

Devina Sofiyanti stated, “The Heirlooms is a project originally started from the Producers Lab program at Jakarta Film Week. Our project was selected to represent Indonesia at the Goedam Residency at Goedam Campus 2024. There, we were very lucky because we got a mentor who already knew about our story, The Heirlooms. Thus, she could provide very in-depth feedback on our story. I encourage you to join the Producers Lab program at Jakarta Film Week this year, as you will gain a lot of knowledge and maybe also be selected to join Goedam Campus next year.”

Besides The Heirlooms, two other projects from Indonesia also got the spotlight at BIFAN 2024. Virgin Bash, directed by Randolph Zaini and produced by Susanti Dewi, won the Mocha Chai Awards, while Dancing Gale, directed by Sammaria Simanjuntak and produced by Lies Nanci Supangkat, participated in the NAFF Project Market and won the DHL Awards.

In the previous year, Jakarta Film Week supported Janice Angelica’s residency trip to GOEDAM Campus, a talent program at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, and residency program in Bucheon, South Korea, and presented her project, Makwan City of Dreams – NENEK, at Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) Busan International Film Festival 2023. Janice won the Bucheon Award, one of the awards given by GOEDAM Campus at the ACFM Busan International Film Festival 2023.

In addition to Jakarta Film Fund and Producers Lab programs, there will be various other programs at this year’s Jakarta Film Week. In previous years, in addition to Jakarta Film Fund, we also had Road To Jakarta Film Week, Film Screenings, Masterclass, Talks, Community, and the Jakarta Film Week Awards Night. All of these programs will soon be announced on the official Jakarta Film Week website and social media.