Indonesian Films Need a Lot of Improvement

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Prilly, a film artist who won the Citra Award in 2021 and 2023, stated that compared to South Korea, the film industry in the homeland still has a lot of catching up to do. According to the producer and founder of Sinemaku Pictures production house, the film industry in the "Land of Ginseng" at least does not have difficulty in getting quality actors and film crews.

"In Indonesia, human resources are still very lacking. Why is that? I finding the crew was really difficult. Oh, the crew is shooting on this or that production. Just looking for actors is also very difficult because there aren't many choices. "There are not many young people whose dream is to enter the film industry," said Prilly.

All of this is happening because the film industry in Indonesia is still being underestimated. Moreover, it is not yet regarded as a promising job field that can provide a guarantee of income. One possible solution is to increase the number of film-related campuses or majors in the country. This can easily be found in developed countries such as South Korea.

Not only that, according to Prilly, the government there also provides many scholarships to send film students to study abroad. After returning from studying at well-known film campuses abroad, these young people then return to their homeland and produce quality films.

"If there are still questions in our minds, like what can we do in the film industry? Is there a future?" said Prilly.

Meanwhile, Ifa stated that what is happening in South Korea is not a coincidence. They have even planned their cultural strategies, including film, for the past two decades in order to integrate everything.

"As Prilly said, everything is interrelated. If we say the quality of films must be improved, this also means improving the quality of the screenplay. To increase that capacity, it means schools are needed. Schools need teachers. "So, everything cannot stand alone, so there must be a strategy," said Ifa, who is also the Director of the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (JAFF).

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On the same occasion, Taufan said that today's film industry and world are quite promising and are no longer as scary as old people used to imagine. "Films are not just ideals, but are also worth investing in, or have even become a kind of soft power for a country," added Taufan.

Training degree

Regarding efforts to improve the quantity and quality of Indonesian films, Netflix Indonesia is investing in the form of conducting a number of film production training sessions. Collaboration is carried out with various parties, such as film circles like JAFF, the Indonesian Film Agency, and the government.

"Throughout this year we will also hold several training sessions with friends from JAFF. We also try to explore types of training from general to specific, such as script writing, related to funding and accounting focused in the film industry, also related to music for illustration and clearance- "said Ruben, who is also Director of Public Policy for Southeast Asia at Netflix.

The training in the form of a short workshop entitled "What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Film Production" was attended by 60 young producers and production teams. The workshop's focus was on cooperation with third parties, the use of music in film, financial planning in film production, legal rules, contracts, and much more.

The choice of topics that focus on administrative and legal aspects in film production was taken because there is still minimal discourse about these essential aspects, especially in the film education curriculum. This is allegedly an obstacle for young film makers to enter the film industry.