90 Choiced Films From 54 Countries Can Be Watched At Jakarta World Cinema Week

Opening of JWCW (Virgilery Levana/VOI)

JAKARTA - The 2023 Jakarta World Cinema Week (JWCW) film festival is taking place from November 11 to 18 at CGV Grand Indonesia. JWCW presents around 90 selected films from 54 countries.

Spectators can watch these selected films live in the CGV Grand Indonesia cinema as well as online on the paid video service KlikFilm. The opening of the JWCW took place on Saturday, November 11, attended by one of the film players Inshallah A Boy, Mohammed Al Jezawi and became the opening film for this year's JWCW.

"Let's start today, we enjoy the world cinema that can be enjoyed at Jakarta World Cinema Week," said JWCW Executive Director Frederica.

"I watched this film when I was present at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. In my opinion, the story is related to the situation in Indonesia, which is predominantly Muslim. Simple, about inheritance distribution. However, there is no Indonesian film that raises a story like this. This film also serves as Jordan's representative at the 2024 Oscar Film Festival," said JWCW Festival Director Shandy Gasella.

During the question and answer session, one of the players from the film Inshallah A Boy, Mohammed Al Jezawi admitted that he liked Indonesia. Although he had doubts at first, he felt that the good Indonesian people made him want to return to Indonesia with his colleagues for a vacation.

"I really like Indonesia and the people are good, I will come here again with friends for holidays. At first I was afraid to hesitate, after trying (so) I really liked it. The air is good, here is good. Hopefully everyone can be entertained by the film Inshallah A Boy," said Jezawi.

Inshallah A Boy is a film directed from Jordan, Amjad Al-Rasheed. This film was chosen as the opening for JWCW 2023 because the film dared to raise issues about inheritance rights in Islam that befell a widow with one child (female). This premise is considered to have a close issue and a strong relevance to the Indonesian audience.

Inshallah A Boy also managed to get warm praise after the 2023 Cannes film festival and was sent as the official Jordanian representative film for the 2024 Oscars.