The opening of Indonesia’s movie industry to foreign investment could boost the country’s struggling filmmakers—and end the dominance of a former monopoly from the days of the dictator Suharto.
Once part-owned by a relative of the late autocrat, whose three decades of rule ended with a resignation in the face of widespread street protests in 1998, Group 21 is still by far the biggest player in both movie-theater operation and film distribution.
But now it faces the end of its protection from fresh foreign competition. This month President Joko Widodo, seeking to ramp up overseas interest in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, relaxed investment regulations in dozens of industries.
Overseas funds could be a lifeline for an industry short of both screens and revenue, filmmakers and producers say.
“It is a milestone for the Indonesian film industry,” said Sheila Timothy, president of the Association of Indonesian Film Producers, which had been pushing for an end to the foreign-investment ban.
The ban has contributed to a shortage of movie screens: Indonesia’s 250 million people are served by only about 1,100, just 40% more than nearby Thailand, whose population is one-quarter the size. Foreign investment, Ms. Timothy said, could increase the number, creating space for domestic as well as international films and generating revenue to boost both the quantity and quality of the local fare.
[“Source-wsj”]
