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Ruang Basbeth Bercerita, a media and publishing company founded in 2018 by Ismail Basbeth and Lyza Anggraheni , is ramping up its film production efforts with a slate of new projects.

The company’s co-founder Basbeth discussed several of the upcoming films in a recent meeting. One project, titled “Mustika Rasa Kini“, will narrate, examine, and compare Indonesian recipes across eras. We aim to create a catalog of Indonesian culinary flavors through various forms, including audiovisual presentations, websites, apps, workshops, and seminars,” explained Ismail Basbeth, Director of Rbb.

The name Mustika Rasa is inspired by a collection of traditional Indonesian recipes first published during Sukarno’s presidency in 1962 by the Ministry of Agriculture. This classic book reflects Sukarno’s commitment to shaping Indonesia’s food sovereignty.

In addition to Ismail Basbeth, the initiative is co-led by several figures, including Lyza Anggraeni, JJ Rizal, Darwin Nugraha, Imran Hasibuan, and Lasja Susatyo, while receiving...

To be honest, I really loved the ending of Borderless Fog. It has so much to unwrap. And not just the ending; the entire narrative of the film kept me on the edge of my seat. [Spoiler Alert] In the climax scene, Bujang, the tea seller-cum-border guard, confessed to killing the corrupt army official Thoriq Herdian, who had been working for the local mobster Agam Bin Yusof. Later, Bujang found Umi trafficking some underaged kids across the conflicted Indonesia-Malaysia border and decided to unleash his wrath upon the greedy woman who was selling innocent lives for money. Bujang had been a part of the Dayak community that dwelled on Borneo Island. The traffickers, like Agam, had been taking advantage of the conflict between the two neighboring countries. They knew that the Indonesian and the Malaysian authorities weren’t supportive of each other’s investigation into the matter of human trafficking, which allowed...

The Venice Film Festival will fete Australian director and screenwriter Peter Weir with its honorary Golden Lion at its forthcoming 80th edition.

Accepting the honor, Weir said: “The Venice Film Festival and its Golden Lion are part of the folklore of our craft. To be singled out as a recipient for a lifetime’s work as a director is a considerable honor.”

Born in August 1944, Weir was one of the pivotal figures in the Australian New Wave cinema of the 70s. He began his career in 1969 when he took a job with the government-funded Commonwealth Film Unit as a director. Weir struck out on his own in 1973 and directed his first feature film, the comic-horror The Cars That Ate Paris (1974), which he also wrote. He won an international audience with Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), followed by The Last Wave (1977), for which he also co-wrote the screenplay.

By Adrian D. Mendizabal

Usmar Ismail's recently restored “After the Curfew” revolves around a soldier returning to his former life in the bustling city of Bandung, Indonesia, only to find himself increasingly alienated by the American-influenced modernity prevalent there.

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by clicking on the image below Tokoh Iskandar dan Norma

Set in postwar Indonesia following the nation's struggle for independence from Dutch colonizers (1945-1949), the film reflects the shaping of Indonesia's contemporary historical and political landscape. This period also gave rise to significant global alliances, notably the Bandung Conference of 1955, uniting nations of the Global South against colonialism and neocolonialism, with the Philippines among the participating countries. Nationalist, democratic, and communist ideals proliferated in postwar Indonesian society, championed by figures like Sukarno, the leader of Indonesia's anti-colonial movement against the Dutch. During this period, the sense of impending freedom was palpable, reflected in the mise-en-scene that portrays...

Rarely a film “reinvents the wheel” when it comes to cinematic language, and, on top of that, does it to maximize the emotional impact. The documentary “The Act of Killing” by Joshua Oppenheimer and associates is one of such films. Although, production-wise, it is not an Asian film, it is so rooted in the context of Indonesia it could serve as a recommendation for the Movie of the Week here.

Oppenheimer first came to Indonesia to film parts of his 2003 video-documentary “The Globalisation Tapes”, but there he found a haunting story from the country's history and spent the greatest part of the following ten years working on the project. During the 60s, the tensions mounted between the left-leaning government lead by Sukarno and the army that resulted in a series of massacres of suspected communists, progressive intellectuals, syndicalists and members of the Chinese minority. Massacres were conducted by the military and the paramilitary forces,...