Netflix Expands Southeast Asia Investment with Strategic JAFF Partnership
JAKARTA, INDONESIA – Netflix is bolstering its commitment to southeast Asian cinema through a new partnership with the Jakarta Asian Film festival (JAFF), building on the momentum of its inaugural Creative Asia launch at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in 2024. The collaboration underscores a shared vision among netflix, BIFF, and JAFF to cultivate and showcase Asian storytelling.
“I’m honored that JAFF is the next film festival to host Creative Asia,after its inaugural launch at BIFF in 2024,” said Ifa Isfansyah,JAFF founder and executive director. “What’s truly meaningful is that Netflix,BIFF,and JAFF all share a common vision: to nurture Asian cinema as a reflection of the dynamic and vibrant societies in our region.”
At JAFF, Netflix highlighted its ongoing initiatives to support regional talent, including the second season of Reel Life Film Camp. The program, funded by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, has received over 800 applications across two seasons and trained nearly 100 participants in areas like production, post-production, visual effects, editing, and screenwriting. Additional training opportunities included a unit still photography workshop and a second season of the Screenwriters Fellowship in collaboration with Soda Machine Films.
The streamer also offered a preview of its upcoming Southeast asian content pipeline, featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the remake of Thailand’s period drama “Ploeng Phra Nang.” Matti, creator of “BuyBust,” confirmed that his Filipino series “BuyBust: The Undesirables” will debut on Netflix next year.
A significant announcement included a partnership with Indonesian author Dee Lestari to adapt her best-selling novels – “Rapi Jali,” “Aroma Karsa,” and “Perahu Kertas” - into original series. Sabrina Rochelle will direct “Rapi Jali,” while Kamila Andini will helm ”Aroma Karsa.”
JAFF also hosted the world premiere of “Lupa Daratan” (Lost in the Spotlight), an Indonesian comedy by Ernest Prakasa.
Netflix reported that over 100 Southeast Asian titles have ranked in its Global Top 10 to date, appearing in the Top 10 lists of over 80 countries this year, including “The Elixir,” which recently held the No. 1 spot among non-English films globally for two consecutive weeks and reached the Top 10 in 75 countries. The festival also featured a creator conversation between anwar (“Nightmares and Daydreams”) and Matti (“BuyBust”) and a panel on Southeast Asia’s emerging zombie genre featuring kaljareuk (“Ziam”), Ledesma (“Outside”) and Stamboel (“The Elixir”).
