SNUAC Research Intern Ahn, Hye Ryn

When giving self-introductions, many would say ‘watching movies’ to the question ‘what do you like to do in the free time?’ I, too, like to watch movies, relatively speaking. When I choose a movie to watch, I try to expand the horizon by watching movies of various nationals and various genres, outside of popular Hollywood or Korean films. Still yet, I have never watched an Indonesian movie before. So when I saw “Indonesia film industries and literature” seminar for Indonesia week, I decided to attend the seminar.

Moon, Sung Joo, director/manager/head of CJ E&M led the discussion for Indonesian film industries session. It was noticeable that lots of researches have been done by the CJ E&M in preparation for the business in Indonesian regions. The presentation on Indonesian film industries by Moon was filled with vividness and realism. Indonesia is one of the most populated countries in the world, with 130million people of upper-middle class. I knew that it is only a matter of time for Indonesian market to become the next China, but I didn’t know that highest proportion of Twitter users are the youth population of Indonesia. It was interesting to find out that the usage of SNS is relatively high in Indonesia, meaning that the viral advertisement through SNS would be highly effective.

Just like CGV, Lotte Cinema, or Megabox of Korea, Indonesia also has giant multiplex movie theatres. Cinema 21 and Blitzmegaplex are the duopolies in Indonesia film industries. Holding 80% of the movie screens, Cinema 21 has been monopolizing the film industry until Cinemaxx jumped into the movies recently. The market structure has begun to change since then. The entrance of Korean corporation into the situation may seem unwise at the moment, but Moon said that combining the real estate business with film business would increase the success rate. Indonesia has also set limitations on the foreign investment in protection of domestic film industries. Only the ones with 100% local capitals are allowed for film production, distribution, and screening. This makes CJ E&M in a difficult position, but the regulations on the market always are changed as the government changes, said Moon. So they are still optimistically waiting for the change.

Just like any other countries, the audiences of Indonesia also prefer action or romance films, but the greatest difference in Indonesian film industry is that many come to the movie theatre with their family. Movies depicting coming-of-age story or autobiographic films are very popular in Indonesia, as they target the families as their main audiences. When a movie results in a huge success, many movies of similar genres or stories would pour out. The audiences would become tired out of the similarities. New materials and genres need to be discovered. As the biggest Islamic country, Islamic cultures and colors are presented in Indonesian films. Islamic values are deeply projected in romance and coming-of-age stories that both the producers and the audiences show likings to such movies.

Lee, Yun, professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies conducted the discussion on the literature of Indonesia. Just like films, Indonesian literature also possesses Islamic cultures. In the case of 『Ayat Ayat Cinda』, it showed great success in both book and movies. The book had become a best-seller immediately after it was published. It was made into film soon after, and ranked third in the box office. By its cover, the book seems like a mere romantic novel, but it actually conveys Islamic ideology as the main message. Literature and films are excellent tools to express cultural ideologies, and it would be safe to say that the people of culture related business in Indonesia are effectively taking advantage of them.

Recently, female writers are shown noticeable activities in Indonesian literature. Amongst them, Ayu Utami has brought sensation with her book 『SAMAN』, in which rich description of sexuality that had been taboo for patriarchal Indonesia was forwardly expressed, is still considered as groundbreaking. It is evaluated as being a challenge to the patriarchal society. As with any female writer talking explicitly about sexuality, the critics were developed into two extremes. Some critics praised eminence of the language in the work, while the others derided the work as a threat to the traditional values and moral standards. Just like any other society where bold and rich sexual description from female aspect was used for the first time, the reaction of the work was mixed.

According to Lee, youth novels, relatively simple in diction and flow are more popular in Indonesia these days, just as young romance novels using on-line languages were boom in Korea 10 years ago.

Some publishers view these phenomena positively, as it indicates the active reading habits of the young generation, but the others criticize the works of being focused only on the city lives of the young generation, failing to entirely represent the various aspects of Indonesian society. Amongst the popular youth novels,  『5cm』, was first published in 2007, reprinted 37 times, and is still a best-seller. The novel was also made into a film, and was successful as well. The traditional way of the publishers being a producer, who selects the works to be published and provides to the readers has now transformed into a consumer-based approach, where the works have shown preference by the readers are then published by the publishers. The change in the international publication trend is also reflected in Indonesian publication industry.

Korean singer Eru and Korean TV show “Running Man” are said to be popular in Indonesia these days. As Indonesian people are getting closer to Korean culture and sentimental, the emotional relatedness will become closer if Korean people would also begin to learn more about Indonesian society and culture. Unfortunately, not many Indonesian films and literature works are introduced in Korea. In that aspect, at least the people who attended the seminar today have been introduced to Indonesian film and literature, opening a small window to the Indonesian culture. Through this opened window of opportunities, it is my hope that curiosity and interest toward Indonesian film and literature will be continued, exchanging more on the Indonesian culture.