Indonesia and Malaysia are set for closer and stronger collaboration through a string of genre projects announced at JAFF Market on Saturday (November 29). These include Indonesian remakes of Malaysian box office hits Munafik and Khurafat.
The Indonesian version of horror film Munafik is directed by Guntur Soeharjanto and stars Arya Saloka and Acha Septriasa. It is produced by Indonesia’s Oswin Bonifanz of Unlimited Productions, along with Malaysia’s Skop Productions and Komet Productions, and Indonesia’s A&Z Films and Legacy Pictures.
The Indonesian remake of Khurafat will be directed by Malaysia’s Zahir Omar and feature an Indonesian cast.
Shamin Yusof, CEO of Skop Productions said at the event: “By entrusting two of our biggest franchises, Munafik and Khurafat, to be reimagined as marquee Indonesian films by top-tier Indonesian filmmakers, we are making a bold statement. It highlights our ambition to deliver compelling, high-quality stories that can captivate audiences across borders.”
Munafik is a 2016 supernatural horror about a medical practitioner who cannot accept the death of his wife and begins to experience strange events after agreeing to treat a woman named Maria. Khurafat is also a supernatural horror from 2011 and follows a newlywed couple who are disturbed by hauntings. Both were directed by Syamsul Yusof of Skop Productions.
At JAFF Market, an event titled The Nusantara Wave: The Rise Of Indonesia-Malaysia Collaborations marks growing cooperation between the two countries, which share a similar culture and language. A first-look teaser of Munafik was shown at the event, along with Khadam and Badut Gendong, which are also set up as cross-border productions.
Khadam is a horror drama from Malaysia produced by Komet Productions and Red Communications, with backers including China’s Sil-Metropole, India’s Applause Entertainment and Indonesia’s Magma Entertainment. Now in post-production, it is directed by Shamyl Othman and stars Indonesia’s Aghniny Haque and Malaysia’s Remy Ishak.
Badut Gendong is an Indonesian horror directed by Charles Gozali of Magma Entertainment, which led the production. It is made in association with Legacy Pictures, Virtuelines Entertainment, VMS Studio, Caravan Studios, all from Indonesia, and Malaysia’s Komet Productions, Skop Productions and Astro Shaw, and India’s Applause Entertainment. The cast includes Marthino Lio, Dayinta Melira, Clara Bernadeth and Derby Romero.
Malaysia’s Komet Productions previously backed Indonesian productions Grave Torture (Siksa Kubur) by Joko Anwar and Bion Studios’ Ambyar Makbyar.
Azmir Mutalib, CEO of National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) said on stage: “This is a very positive development of co-production efforts between Indonesia and Malaysia.”
Through FINAS, a Malaysia Pavilion at JAFF Market is showcasing 10 Malaysian companies including Skop Productions and Komet Productions.
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