Indonesian Movies & Films Resources

The Suharto regime was not good for the Indonesian Movie Industry. The industry had almost collapsed under the regime. The regime’s extreme censorship excessive state control went a long way in ensuring that only a few of the Indonesian movies that were produced actually reached the movie screens. As a result of this scenario in the Indonesian Movie Industry the film critics had hardly any room for variety or manoeuvre. Besides the much government restrictions left no appetite for the movies among the audiences. The many regulations, augmented by the strict censorship just made it very hard to make any Indonesian Movie.

The actual turning point in the Indonesian Movie scene came with the Reformation movement in 1998. It was when President Suharto stepped down that there was a great sense of freedom and reform among the Indonesian people.

This was especially the case among the youth in the country. The youth found a whole new surge of energy and creativity through the various media the most important of them being the Indonesian Movies. The audience for the films had started returning to the theatres after the stepping down of Suharto but the young filmmakers and directors still felt greatly constrained by the lack of funding and resources provided by the government to the Indonesian Movie Industry.

Main Movies Index Page