There Is A Celebration Of The 17th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival

Opening the 17th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival. (IST)

JAKARTA - The 17th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival or JAFF started on Saturday, November 26 yesterday. This year, JAFF carries the theme Blossom or bersemi to mark a young age full of energy, curiosity, and creativity. This theme also symbolizes the emergence of new innovations in artistic production and exploration modes, as well as new talents in the Asian cinema landscape.

Taking place at Empire XXI Yogyakarta, the film Piknik Pesona was chosen as the opening film to be shown. Piknik Pesona is a short film with the background of 10 cities carried out by 10 young Indonesian directors. Irin Junirman from Palari Films also expressed his happiness at the selection of Piknik Pesona as the opening film.

Congratulations to JAFF for 17 years for being an Indonesian cinema service. Tonight we are very proud to be able to share our work with the film audience. I represent Palari Films, very happy and grateful to Vision Plus for its cooperation, thank you too especially to the audience, let's celebrate diversity," said Irin Junirman in a written statement.

The enthusiasm of the audience for the implementation of JAFF 2022 was also seen when the Piknik Pesona ticket expired in a short time when the sale of the 17th JAFF ticket opened on November 19. Piknik Pesona is one of the films whose tickets were immediately invaded when the sale of JAFF17 tickets opened on November 19. Not only that, it was recorded that more than ten films had been sold out for less than 30 minutes since opening.

The number of visitors and spectators at JAFF is always increasing. Every year new viewers appear to come to JAFF for the first time. This makes me even more confident that the cinema culture in Indonesia will continue to be stronger, said Ifa Isfansyah as Festival Director.

Enthusiasm was also seen from the number of spectators who attended on the first day, despite the rain almost all day, the audience and inviteds who attended were loyal to attend the festival. The ceremony which was held at night on the courtyard of the Empire XXI Yogyakarta was entertained by Neo Collective's performance. For the next few days, the stage installed on the front page of the Empire XXI cinema will continue to feature various appearances during the festival.

At the opening of the festival, the Deputy Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Aryo (KGPAA) Paku Alam X, read out a speech written by the Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Sultan Hamengkubowono X via video giving his support for the implementation of JAFF.

Since it was first held in 2006, JAFF has become an inseparable space for the dynamics of the people of Yogyakarta. In line with the theme carried by JAFF17, namely Blossom, it is our common hope that this event will be a marker of growth and the spirit of renewal in production, artistic exploration, and thematics in the Asian cinema landscape so that JAFF is able to contribute to making Yogyakarta a barometer of Indonesian cinema in Asia. "said KGPAA Paku Alam X.

In addition to the Deputy Governor, Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, Nadiem Anwar Makarim also conveyed his support through short videos. For the various achievements achieved by JAFF and maintaining its existence for 17 years without stopping even during a pandemic, we at the Ministry of Education and Culture Research and Technology through the Director General of Culture provide cultural endowments in the strategic activity category said Mr. Nadiem Makarim. In addition, Mr. Nadiem Anwar Makarim also congratulated the holding of JAFF17. To all organizers, invited guests, partners, and all supporters of the 17th JAFF, I congratulate you on the manifestation. Let's continue to be creative and work to realize an independent cultured Indonesia, "he said.

This year's JAFF will be carried out offline and online for eight consecutive days, starting from November 26 to December 3. Empire XXI, which is the main location besides LPP Yogyakarta and KLIKFILM, to enjoy JAFF17 online. The schedule for the JAFF17 program and how to buy tickets can be found on the official social media account @jaffjogja and the official website, jaff-filmfest.org.