Held Again, JAFF19 Will Present 180 Films From 25 Asian Pacific Countries

JAFF19 (ist) poster

JAKARTA - With the theme Metanoia, the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) will be held again for eight days, from November 30 to December 7, 2024.

Metanoia's theme describes Asia's continuous cinema transformation in achieving advantages, albeit in the midst of various global challenges.

For the first time, the opening film and closing film of the festival are Indonesian films as celebrations of the birth of JAFF Market, the Indonesian special film market. Samsara, a black and white silent film by the director who won various national and international awards, Garin Nugroho, will open the festival on November 30, 2024.

Dan 1 Kakak 7 Ponakan, film drama terbaru karya sutradara Yandy Laurens, yang film sebelumnya Jatuh Cinta Seperti di Film-Film meraih 11 nominasi Festival Film Indonesia 2024, akan menjadi film penutupan dan sekaligus merupakan penayangan perdananya di dunia.

"After the pandemic, our film industry continues to move and grow, both in numbers, quality, and diversity of stories as well as amazing technical achievements. Our films continue to reap praise and awards in the world film arena. And, especially this year, cinema audience figures show stunning achievements. In September, cinema audiences recorded the highest number since 1926, outperforming the number of moviegoers in Indonesian cinemas, "said Ifa Isfansyah, Director of Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival to reporters via zoom, Friday, November 8.

"We want to dedicate Metanoia's spirit to the theme this year to the brilliant Indonesian film industry in the midst of the Asian cinema which also grew together," he added.

Every year, JAFF always wants to give a new color with more and more lively diversity. This year, JAFF19 will present 180 films from 25 Asian Pacific countries that will be shown in competition and non-competition programs. Twelve long films were selected to compete in the Main Competition program to compete for the Golden and Silver Hanoman Awards.

Some of them were Viet and Nam by director Truong Minh Quy from Vietnam who entered the selection for the 2024 Un Certain Regard Cannes competition and In the Land of Brothers debuted directors Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi who won the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic Sundance Film Festival 2024.

In the Light of Asia short film competition, 18 films will compete for the Blencong Awards. JAFF will also give awards to directors who present the first and second feature films through the NETPAC Awards competition.

In addition, as many as six Indonesian films that will air this year will compete in the JAFF Indonesian Screen Awards program to compete for Best Film awards, Best Directors, Best Script Writers, Best Actors, and Best Cinematography.