TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Classic Indonesian literature to be made into soap operas, films
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
State publisher Balai Pustaka (BP) has announced it will partner with MNC Pictures production house to create sinetron (soap operas) and films based on classic Indonesian literature. (Shutterstock/Galyna Motizova)
S
tate publisher Balai Pustaka (BP) has announced it will partner with MNC Pictures production house to create sinetron (soap operas) and films based on classic Indonesian literature.
Antara reported that 12 classic literature titles were ready to be made into soap operas or films. Layar Terkembang (Set Sail), a novel by Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana, is said to be the first work to be adapted into a soap opera.
Read also: Essay: Literature brainstorms, not brainwashes
“Coinciding with its 100th birthday, I am very proud that Balai Pustaka will adapt the classic Indonesian literature collections into formats that are very popular with the Indonesian public," Balai Pustaka president director Saiful Bahri said.
He also said the publisher’s role expanded beyond publishing. “[They must also] convey moral messages in all classic Indonesian literature,” he said.
The managing director of MNC Pictures, Titan Hermawan, said the project aimed to bring more “quality options” to the audience. “We are also committed to contributing to the preservation of classic literature,” he said. (mas/asw)
