Manoj Punjabi, the boss of Indonesian production house MD Entertainment, feels vindicated. He refused to release KKN di Desa Penari–a horror film about six students who enter a sealed-off portion of a village–during the pandemic, saying it was “made for the cinema.” Released in April last year, the movie is now the Southeast Asian country’s highest-grossing film ever.
Local films are capturing an ever-increasing share of Indonesian eyeballs. Domestically-produced content captured 61% of the market last year, according to research from Spire Research and Consulting. And Indonesian films are breaking out overseas, becoming a regular sight at prominent international film festivals.
