An MD Pictures production. (International sales: MD, Jakarta.) Produced by Dhamoo Punjabi, Manoj Punjabi. Executive producer, Shania Punjabi. Directed, written by Joko Anwar.
With: Fachri Albar, Ario Bayu, Shanty, Fahrani, Tipi Jabrik, August Melasz, Rima Melati, Yose Rizal Manua, Arswendi Nasution, Sujiwo Tejo, Frans Tumbuan.
An initially arresting, noirish drama that starts jumping the tracks midway, "Kala" begins as a conspiracy thriller-cum-ghost yarn and ends as a mythical martial-artser. Way too ambitious for its own good, sophomore outing by former film critic Joko Anwar, whose spry 2005 romantic comedy "Joni's Promise" toured Asian fests, shows a talented writer-director who just needs more focus. Local hit on April release looks to penetrate no further than orientalist gatherings.
Set in a deliberately timeless world heavy on '50s atmosphere and black sedans, story centers on a narcoleptic journo, Janus (Fachri Albar), and a gay cop, Eros (Ario Bayu), trying to unravel some mysterious deaths that start with the torching of five people. Convoluted plot, which isn't made easy to follow by Anwar's preference for mood over clarity, spins on a hidden stash (known as the First President's Treasure) that's guarded by a ghost and is sought by corrupt politicos. Handsome guys (Albar, Bayu) and perfidious dames (Shanty, Fahrani) populate what's basically a dime-store novel with nationalistic undertones, set in an ochry world of corruption and greed. Tech package, on a $600,000 tab, is sultry. "Kala" literally means "time."
Camera (color/B&W), Rachmat Syaiful; editor, Wawan I. Wibowo; music, David Tarigan, Zeke Khaselli; art director, Wencislaus; costume designers, Isabelle Patrice, Tania Soeprapto. Reviewed at PiFan Film Festival (closer), South Korea, July 19, 2007. (Also in Bangkok Film Festival.) Running time: 104 MIN.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Celestial localizes Movies for Indonesia
HONG KONG -- Celestial Pictures announced Friday an initiative to fully localize its 24-hour Chinese movie channel Celestial Movies for Indonesia.
From Sunday all movies aired on Celestial Movies will be subtitled in Bahasa Indonesia, and all on-air promotions will be fully dubbed in Bahasa Indonesia.
Channel was launched in Indonesia in 2003 and typically screens 200 first-run films and 300 older titles per year.
"The localization of Celestial Movies supports the growing popularity of the channel among Indonesian viewers, and allows viewers to enjoy the channel in their own language," William Pfeiffer, Celestial Pictures CEO, said.
Net is available in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.
From Sunday all movies aired on Celestial Movies will be subtitled in Bahasa Indonesia, and all on-air promotions will be fully dubbed in Bahasa Indonesia.
Channel was launched in Indonesia in 2003 and typically screens 200 first-run films and 300 older titles per year.
"The localization of Celestial Movies supports the growing popularity of the channel among Indonesian viewers, and allows viewers to enjoy the channel in their own language," William Pfeiffer, Celestial Pictures CEO, said.
Net is available in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Indonesia expels music mogul
Lou Pearlman, the boy-band mogul of the late 1990s who became a fugitive earlier this year, was expelled by Indonesian authorities Thursday and turned over to the FBI.
Pearlman was arrested on one felony count of bank fraud and appeared before a judge in Guam. He faces several lawsuits and two involuntary bankruptcy proceedings in Florida, where he built an empire by creating the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync and guiding their careers.
Pearlman is accused of defrauding about 1,000 investors of more than $315 million in a bogus savings-account plan scheme. Banks are asking for more than $120 million from Pearlman, according to bankruptcy court documents. Federal charges were filed in a criminal complaint March 2.
Federal and state authorities raided Pearlman's home and offices in February, and the bulk of his possessions were auctioned off earlier this week. His house is listed for $8.5 million.
Indonesian authorities, working off an FBI tip, deemed him an "undesirable visitor" and tossed him out of the country. Pearlman was apprehended at a hotel on the island of Bali.
(Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Pearlman was arrested on one felony count of bank fraud and appeared before a judge in Guam. He faces several lawsuits and two involuntary bankruptcy proceedings in Florida, where he built an empire by creating the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync and guiding their careers.
Pearlman is accused of defrauding about 1,000 investors of more than $315 million in a bogus savings-account plan scheme. Banks are asking for more than $120 million from Pearlman, according to bankruptcy court documents. Federal charges were filed in a criminal complaint March 2.
Federal and state authorities raided Pearlman's home and offices in February, and the bulk of his possessions were auctioned off earlier this week. His house is listed for $8.5 million.
Indonesian authorities, working off an FBI tip, deemed him an "undesirable visitor" and tossed him out of the country. Pearlman was apprehended at a hotel on the island of Bali.
(Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Friday, May 25, 2007
Queen nabs high profile films
CANNES -- Queen Film, the Indonesian distribution company that is affiliated with new exhibition group Blitz Megaplex, has pre-emptively bought rights to a slew of U.S. and international pictures with broad marketing elements, among them the Bruce Willis starrer "Grimm." Other deals include:
* Hyde Park Intl.'s "Streetfighter," and James Ivory's "City of Your Final Destination, starring Anthony Hopkins;
* Odd Lot's upcoming Frank Miller pic "The Spirit";
* Focus Features' upcoming Fernando Meirelles-helmed thriller "Blindness" with Daniel Craig and Julianne Moore;
* Summit Entertainment's Mike Newell-helmed "Love in the Time of Cholera," with Javier Bardem, and "The Fall";
* Omega Entertainment's illusionist pic "Mandrake" and Deepa Mehta film "Luna";
* EuropaCorp's English language thriller "Taken";
* Mandarin Films' Tsui Hark romantic actioner "Missing";
* Pathe Pictures Intl.’s horror-comedy "The Cottage," and French-language Cannes competition film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
* Hyde Park Intl.'s "Streetfighter," and James Ivory's "City of Your Final Destination, starring Anthony Hopkins;
* Odd Lot's upcoming Frank Miller pic "The Spirit";
* Focus Features' upcoming Fernando Meirelles-helmed thriller "Blindness" with Daniel Craig and Julianne Moore;
* Summit Entertainment's Mike Newell-helmed "Love in the Time of Cholera," with Javier Bardem, and "The Fall";
* Omega Entertainment's illusionist pic "Mandrake" and Deepa Mehta film "Luna";
* EuropaCorp's English language thriller "Taken";
* Mandarin Films' Tsui Hark romantic actioner "Missing";
* Pathe Pictures Intl.’s horror-comedy "The Cottage," and French-language Cannes competition film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Easternlight scores well with "Three Kingdoms"
CANNES -- The combination of Andy Lau and “Mission: Impossible 3” starlet Maggie Q is a hot ticket for sales agent Arclight.
Company’s Asian label Easternlight closed deals on the $20 million historic actioner “Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon” with Imagem for Brazil, Spentzos for Greece, PT Amero for Indonesia, Grand Brilliance for Indonesia and Vietnam, Castello Lopes for Portugal, Aqua Pinema for Turkey and Sundream Motion Pictures for Hong Kong.
Pic, lensed by Daniel Lee, and co-starring Sammo Hung, Charlie Yeung and Yu Rongguang and Andy Oh, will also get outings in China through PolyBona and in Korea through producers Taewon Entertainment.
Company’s Asian label Easternlight closed deals on the $20 million historic actioner “Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon” with Imagem for Brazil, Spentzos for Greece, PT Amero for Indonesia, Grand Brilliance for Indonesia and Vietnam, Castello Lopes for Portugal, Aqua Pinema for Turkey and Sundream Motion Pictures for Hong Kong.
Pic, lensed by Daniel Lee, and co-starring Sammo Hung, Charlie Yeung and Yu Rongguang and Andy Oh, will also get outings in China through PolyBona and in Korea through producers Taewon Entertainment.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Indonesian filmmakers rebel against festival, censors
JAKARTA -- More than 100 movie bizzers, including top helmers, thesps, producers, writers and technicians, Wednesday handed back awards as part of a protest aimed at several of the country's movie institutions.
They called for the government to abolish the Indonesian Film Festival (FFI), the Film Censorship Institute, the Consultative Board for National Film Development and Film Law No. 8/1992, which they say no longer conform to the spirit of modern film-making.
They also seek the annulment of the best film award and other 'Citra' prizes given to "Ekskul," a campy comedy drama, at last month's FFI. "Ekskul" was panned by critics, slumped at the box office and, the group allege, infringed other composers' music rights.
Multi-hyphenates Nia Dinata and Mira Lesmana, actor Nicolas Saputra, actress Dian Sastro, helmers Rudi Soerdjarwo and Riri Riza were among members of the Indonesian Film Society, (Masyarakat Film Indonesia), who handed back to the Minister for Culture and Tourism, Jero Wacik 22 Citra awards won at previous IFFs. Next week they plan to return another 13 Citras, bringing the total to 35.
"Ekskul, which won the Citra trophy for best film, (illegally) used the score of a certain film and this constitutes a copyright infringement ... and indicates the poor management of FFI and lack of competence on the part of the festival organizers," Upi Avianto, the director of "Realitas, Cinta dan Rock 'N Roll" (Reality, Love and Rock 'N Roll) said, in a statement from the group.
Although it is country's foreign-language Oscar hopeful, Dinata's "Love for Share" ("Berbagi Suami") was not even nominated for best film Citra at the recently concluded 2006 IFF. Apparently one of the FFI judges took the movie's anti-polygamy message as a personal insult.
Indonesia's other well-known fest, the Jakarta Film Fest (Jiffest), also felt the impact of censorship in December. A Dutch documentary "Promised Paradise," was banned by the censor as it showed images of one of the Bali bombers. Three films that Jiffest tried to present in 2005 were also disqualified.
Jiffest programming chief Orlow Seunke has since resigned, blaming a lack of government support.
They called for the government to abolish the Indonesian Film Festival (FFI), the Film Censorship Institute, the Consultative Board for National Film Development and Film Law No. 8/1992, which they say no longer conform to the spirit of modern film-making.
They also seek the annulment of the best film award and other 'Citra' prizes given to "Ekskul," a campy comedy drama, at last month's FFI. "Ekskul" was panned by critics, slumped at the box office and, the group allege, infringed other composers' music rights.
Multi-hyphenates Nia Dinata and Mira Lesmana, actor Nicolas Saputra, actress Dian Sastro, helmers Rudi Soerdjarwo and Riri Riza were among members of the Indonesian Film Society, (Masyarakat Film Indonesia), who handed back to the Minister for Culture and Tourism, Jero Wacik 22 Citra awards won at previous IFFs. Next week they plan to return another 13 Citras, bringing the total to 35.
"Ekskul, which won the Citra trophy for best film, (illegally) used the score of a certain film and this constitutes a copyright infringement ... and indicates the poor management of FFI and lack of competence on the part of the festival organizers," Upi Avianto, the director of "Realitas, Cinta dan Rock 'N Roll" (Reality, Love and Rock 'N Roll) said, in a statement from the group.
Although it is country's foreign-language Oscar hopeful, Dinata's "Love for Share" ("Berbagi Suami") was not even nominated for best film Citra at the recently concluded 2006 IFF. Apparently one of the FFI judges took the movie's anti-polygamy message as a personal insult.
Indonesia's other well-known fest, the Jakarta Film Fest (Jiffest), also felt the impact of censorship in December. A Dutch documentary "Promised Paradise," was banned by the censor as it showed images of one of the Bali bombers. Three films that Jiffest tried to present in 2005 were also disqualified.
Jiffest programming chief Orlow Seunke has since resigned, blaming a lack of government support.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
History, Crime channels air in Asia
The History Channel and a Crime and Investigation channel are coming to Asia.
A deal unveiled on the Croisette late Monday involves A&E Television Networks and Astro All Asia Networks, which will jointly launch and operate these branded niches across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Headquartered in Singapore, AETN All Asia Networks will also have operations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The venture is set to launch History and Crime & Investigation in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei in the second and third quarters of this year . The channels will launch in Taiwan by the end of the year. The History Channel and Crime & Investigation Network will be fully language-versioned in Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai and Chinese.
AETN All Asia Networks also plans to launch the Biography Channel in the region, and to deploy the brands via VOD, mobile, broadband and HD.
AETN senior VP Sean Cohan said at the Mip TV market the region has "a deep commitment to education and a great tradition of story-telling," adding that he believed the channels would have tremendous appeal to viewers throughout the region.
Program schedules for both History and Crime & Investigation will feature local acquisitions and local productions.
The 12-year-old History Channel is available in some 130 countries; Crime & Investigation will feature series like "First 48," "SWAT" and "Cold Case Files."
AETN is a joint venture of the Hearst Corp., ABC and NBC.
A deal unveiled on the Croisette late Monday involves A&E Television Networks and Astro All Asia Networks, which will jointly launch and operate these branded niches across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Headquartered in Singapore, AETN All Asia Networks will also have operations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The venture is set to launch History and Crime & Investigation in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei in the second and third quarters of this year . The channels will launch in Taiwan by the end of the year. The History Channel and Crime & Investigation Network will be fully language-versioned in Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai and Chinese.
AETN All Asia Networks also plans to launch the Biography Channel in the region, and to deploy the brands via VOD, mobile, broadband and HD.
AETN senior VP Sean Cohan said at the Mip TV market the region has "a deep commitment to education and a great tradition of story-telling," adding that he believed the channels would have tremendous appeal to viewers throughout the region.
Program schedules for both History and Crime & Investigation will feature local acquisitions and local productions.
The 12-year-old History Channel is available in some 130 countries; Crime & Investigation will feature series like "First 48," "SWAT" and "Cold Case Files."
AETN is a joint venture of the Hearst Corp., ABC and NBC.
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