Regional collaboration fuels Southeast Asia’s rise in global cinema
A scene from Indonesian film "Pangku," which won big at Busan International Film Festival's Vision Award this year / Courtesy of Gambar Gerak
BUSAN — With Southeast Asian films breaking box office records and winning international acclaim, a new wave of regional collaboration is transforming the Asian film industry. Cross-border projects and co-productions — from Indonesia’s “On Your Lap” to Malaysian-Indonesian venture “The Fox King” — are not only expanding storytelling possibilities but also signal a more connected and cooperative cinematic production landscape across Asia.
“On Your Lap,” known as “Pangku” in Indonesia, dominated this year’s Busan International Film Festival’s (BIFF) Vision Awards competition, which recognizes rising independent Asian filmmakers. After holding its world premiere at BIFF, the film collected an impressive four out of 24 awards, voted on by audiences and critics.
Marking the celebrated Indonesian actor Reza Rahadian’s directorial debut, the film revolves around a young woman (Claresta Taufan) who works as a “kopi pangku” waitress, where women sit on men’s laps as they drink coffee, hoping to secure a better life for her family. The protagonist embodies strength and self-sacrifice during the 1998 IMF economic crisis.
“Like Korea in the 1970s, this film tells the story of Indonesia in the 1990s in a similar period of rapid economic growth,” said Park Sung-ho, a BIFF programmer based in Cambodia. “If you look at international media, they’re saying that Southeast Asian movies are the hottest right now. The Southeast Asian market is growing and growing the fastest.”
The buzz around “On Your Lap” is part of a broader boom in Southeast Asian cinema. Last year was a milestone for locally-produced films across the region, shattering box office records, according to the Guardian.
Thai tearjerker “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” grossed over 334 million baht ($9.1 million), becoming not only the biggest Thai film of the year but also dominating cinemas in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Southeast Asian original cinema capitalized on the temporary absence of American blockbusters during the Hollywood strikes, screening the highest-grossing locally-made films of all time in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.
A scene from the Malaysian-Indonesian joint production "The Fox King" / Courtesy of Greenlight Pictures
BIFF as platform for collaboration
This year’s BIFF’s “A Window on Asian Cinema” section screened five features from Southeast Asian countries, alongside four short films and two documentaries, spotlighting a thriving creative ecosystem.
One standout was “The Fox King,” a Malaysian-Indonesian co-production that held its Asian premiere at BIFF, following a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival Centrepiece section.
“Festival such as Busan (International Film Festival), which focuses on Asian films, are extremely important if you’re a young filmmaker or even a mid-career filmmaker like myself, trying to get visibility in a cluttered market. It is the launching point for many films coming out of Asia. From there, you can mushroom to other festivals in Europe, the Americas, or other parts of Asia,” Malaysian director Woo Ming Jin, who helmed "The Fox King," told The Korea Times.
“Busan is my favorite festival. I go every year with or without a film because it’s a meeting point.”
The film tells the coming-of-age story of fraternal twin brothers Ali (Idan Aedan) and Amir (Hadi Putra), who share a telepathic bond that transcends language. When a beautiful and cruel English teacher, played by Indonesian icon Dian Sastrowardoyo, enters their school and lives, their sibling relationship becomes fraught.
The brothers find refuge in shared games, kite-flying competitions and their own secret language. The psychic connection is a central idea of the film, one that director Woo — a twin himself — drew directly from his own experience.
"I wanted to depict the unique bond between twins," Woo said, noting that while he lives in Japan and his brother in Canada, they remain very close.
The film is also a milestone for regional collaboration between Indonesia and Malaysia. Woo aimed to make a film that will break down national borders that are usually present, especially for Malaysian films.
"Co-productions are totally paramount because you can leverage the risk of making a film, and you can expand the market. We brought in Dian Sastrowardoyo, who’s a very big Indonesian star, and that helps us market the film in both Indonesia and Malaysia, where she’s really well known. It was also important for ‘The Fox King,’ which is not a straight genre, action or horror film, but a coming-of-age drama," Woo said.
A scene from the Malaysian-Indonesian joint production "The Fox King" / Courtesy of Greenlight Pictures
Strengthening its reach across Asian cinema, "The Fox King" will next screen at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, running from Nov. 6 to 23.
Still, Woo is cautious to call it a golden age of Southeast Asian cinema because "cinema is cyclical." Instead he calls it a "mild resurgence."
“Southeast Asian Cinema, especially Indonesia and maybe Vietnam, are having a mild resurgence in the last few years. There’s more vibrancy and excitement in the region partly because of government institutional support,” Woo said.
"Many Southeast Asian films are getting shown not just outside of Southeast Asia, but in their own countries. [For example, my previous film] ‘Stone Turtle’ was bought for Amazon Southeast Asia exclusively and a lot of Indonesian films were as well. If they were not successful theatrically, they were somewhat successful in the streaming world.”
Korea's investment
Such artistic collaborations are increasingly backed by strategic partnerships, with Korea emerging as a major force behind this shift. Since 2015, Korea has become one of the most influential investors in the Southeast Asian market, with CJ ENM leading the charge.
The Korean entertainment powerhouse cemented its role as a major player in the region's cinematic industries. In Vietnam, CJ ENM productions have consistently ranked among the top 10 box office hits for three consecutive years. In Indonesia, the company made a strong impression with its horror release “Satan's Slaves,” which topped the local box office in 2017. In Thailand, the company widened its footprint through strategic partnerships and local remakes of popular Korean content, further diversifying the region’s film scene.
CJ ENM’s Southeast Asian branches have shaped not only local box office results but also the broader film industries there, redefining the entire process from planning and investment to marketing and promotion to revitalize the industry as a whole.
Singapore film critic Philip Cheah, editor of When East Meets East, said, “Co-production in Asia is growing, but we need more cooperation in Asia as I believe the future of Asian Cinema depends on how much we work together.”
Esther Kim is a writer from New York.