Indonesia-France Develop Film Lab in Yogyakarta, Young Cinema Opens to Global Network

Indonesian Minister of Culture Fadli Zon met with the French Ambassador to Indonesia Fabien Penone and representatives of the French Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée or CNC in Jakarta, Friday, July 10. (IST)

JAKARTA - Indonesia and France have begun to lower cultural cooperation to a more concrete agenda. This time, the film and audiovisual sector was chosen as an important channel, from talent strengthening, funding, joint production, to film archive restoration.

The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia Fadli Zon met with the French Ambassador to Indonesia Fabien Penone and representatives of the French Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée or CNC in Jakarta, Friday, July 10.

The meeting discussed strengthening cooperation in film and audiovisual as part of the Indonesian-French cultural relations. This agenda is a follow-up to the Borobudur Declaration or Joint Cultural Strategy agreed by the President of Indonesia and the President of France on May 29, 2025.

The discussion also continued the bilateral meeting between the Indonesian Minister of Culture and the French Minister of Culture in April 2026 in Paris.

Fadli said that film and audiovisuals were one of the most potential sectors to make the cultural cooperation between the two countries feel more real.

"For Indonesia, the film and audiovisual sector is one of the most important areas to translate the Indonesian-French cultural partnership into tangible impact," said Fadli.

He said Indonesia wanted to strengthen the film ecosystem from two sides at once. The heritage of cinema needs to be maintained through archives and restoration, while the future of film must be supported through the incubation of new talent.

"We are fully committed to strengthening the film ecosystem, both by preserving cinematic treasures through archives and restoration, and by investing in the future for the incubation of film talent," he said.

During the meeting, the two parties discussed a number of agendas. Among them are film governance, human resource development, sustainable funding, joint production or co-production, animation, intellectual property protection, and film preservation through archiving and restoration.

Fadli also conveyed the commitment of the Ministry of Culture to strengthen the national film institution. One of them is through strengthening the role of the Indonesian Film Agency or BPI which has just been formed.

According to Fadli, Indonesia needs to learn from France's experience in building a strong film funding system. CNC has long been known as one of the important institutions in the French film governance.

"We want to build a more independent and sustainable film funding mechanism, including exploring the possibility of establishing a perpetual fund or other long-term funding schemes," said Fadli.

"The experience of French CNC is an important reference for Indonesia in strengthening the national film ecosystem," he said.

One of the concrete agendas discussed was the third edition of the Indonesia-France Film Lab. This program will be held in November 2026 in Yogyakarta as part of the JAFF Market.

The Lab film will present a scenario writing workshop and direct mentoring from La Fémis for Indonesian filmmakers. La Fémis is known as one of the important film schools in France.

In addition, CNC will hold the first co-production meeting forum in Paris in December 2026. This forum will bring together film industry players from Indonesia and France.

Fabien Penone expressed his appreciation for Indonesia's commitment to strengthening cultural cooperation, especially in the film industry. He said France was ready to support the development of talent, industry collaboration, and knowledge exchange.

"This collaboration is also very important for us, because in this very complex world, we must maintain and support local creations by having a film preservation institution," said Penone.

The meeting was also attended by the General Chair of the Indonesian Film Agency, Fauzan Zidni, as well as a number of officials from the Ministry of Culture and the French Embassy.

This cooperation opens a wider path for young Indonesian filmmakers to enter international networks, as well as strengthening the unfinished work, namely film funding, film archives, and industry governance.