Meeting With The Minister Of Culture Of French Culture, Menbud Fadli Zon Thanked Indonesia's Appreciation For Diversity At The Cannes Film Festival

JAKARTA - Minister of Culture Fadli Zon arrived at Cannes, Saturday (17/05) in order to attend the biggest film festival in the world, namely the Cannes Film Festival, a prestigious event for film people from various countries. The presence of Indonesia at the Cannes Film Festival is an effort to promote and diplomacy culture through various Indonesian films in Cannes that convey the identity of the nation, through stories, characters, and noble values that are the modern face and richness of the archipelago culture.

Starting the activity at Cannes, Menbud Fadli Zon held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Culture of the French Republic, Rachida Dati, discussing efforts to strengthen the cultural cooperation between Indonesia and France that had been established since 1969. On this occasion, Minister Fadli Zon introduced the Ministry of Culture as a new ministry in President Prabowo Subianto's Cabinet, which is tasked with protecting, developing, and advancing culture as a pillar of national development. He also conveyed Indonesia's commitment to strengthening cooperation with France in strengthening the film ecosystem through collaboration with the Center National du Cinéma et de l'image annimaturatur (CNC) France.

"Minister Rachida and I discussed cooperation in the field of culture which will be the main focus in President Macron's state visit to Jakarta at the end of May. We agreed to strengthen collaboration in building an art ecosystem, film, museum management, preservation and utilization of cultural heritage, including the development of cultural human resources," said Menbud Fadli Zon.

The state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Indonesia at the end of May marked the close diplomatic relations between Indonesia and France that had existed for 75 years. During the visit, culture became one of the main topics that would be the result of the meeting of the presidents of the two countries. For this reason, Minister Fadli and Minister Rachida agreed to sign an MoU in the field of culture which became the umbrella for cultural cooperation between the two countries during President Macron's visit which would later cover various fields such as museums, creative culture industries, cinemas, capacity development in the fields of culture, arts training and education, recognition, cultural exchange, and other fields that became a common priority for the two countries.

During this meeting, Minister Fadli also introduced the success of Indonesian films on the international stage, including the film Renoir, a collaboration product between filmmakers Indonesia, Japan, France, Singapore and the Philippines, which is included in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and the animated film 'Jumbo', which has penetrated 10 million viewers. The presence of Indonesian films on the international stage is an effort to introduce various Indonesian cultural identities.

"Under the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto, the Ministry of Culture is committed to building a resilient film ecosystem through collaboration with all parties, including through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, so that it can create a politically sovereign Indonesian society, economically independent, and with a personality in culture," said Fadli Zon.

The creative culture industry sector is an interesting field in Indonesia and France relations. Both countries have the same interest and commitment in building collaborations such as through the production of joint films, training, residence, and various coaching activities for art actors. Menbud Fadli hopes that in the future there will be more initiatives such as the Indonesia-France Film Lab, a collaboration between the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia and the French Embassy in Jakarta that can be built, as an effort to expand the reach of the Indonesian film market on the global stage.