Support has poured in for the government'€™s plan to open up the local film industry to foreign direct investment, a move that is expected to benefit filmmakers and the industry in general.

At least 11 professional associations related to the film industry jointly urged President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo on Tuesday to approve the latest revision of the negative investment list (DNI), which allows 100 percent foreign ownership in certain sectors, including in the film industry in areas such as technical services, production, distribution, exhibition and cinemas.

'€œIt will open up opportunities for filmmakers and creative talents to level up their standards and capacities through the transfer of knowledge and technology,'€ said Sheila Timothy, who chairs the Association of Indonesian Film Producers (APROFI).

She argued that the industry had been troubled by financial restraints that hampered filmmakers'€™ creative processes.

'€œTo make a good production, there should be a well-prepared pre-production phase where scriptwriters have enough time for research and actors to embody their characters.

'€œAt the other end of production, which is the exhibition, producers cannot meet the targeted viewers and get their money back to finance the next production.'€

The access to foreign investment, either in the form of film co-production or the establishment of more theaters, according to Sheila, will break the vicious cycle.

At present, foreign direct investment is allowed to account for a maximum 49 percent stake in companies providing any technical assistance in film-related production, including film producers, production houses, distribution and promotions.

Triawan Munaf, head of the Creative Economy Agency said that the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) was currently revising the country'€™s DNI to increase the foreign ownership in certain economic sectors including in the film industry.

Separately, film director Joko Anwar explained that films that have non-commercial themes are rarely made due to the low number of screens allocated to local films pushing directors to focus on market-friendly movies with longevity in cinemas.

'€œWith the help of foreign investment, more local productions can be created and exhibited. Films with untouched and non-commercial themes will have more opportunities to be made, thus increasing the quality of our films,'€ Joko said on Tuesday.

Data gathered from various commercial cinemas shows that there are only 1,117 film screens available in the whole of Indonesia, with 35 percent of all cinemas being in Jakarta. He added that a more equal distribution of film screens across Indonesia would benefit both production and attendance, making local productions more noticeable in rural areas.

Additionally, Sheila said that only around 20 percent of [those screens were] allocated to local productions with the rest dominated by imported films, noting that local producers had to regularly '€œbattle'€ within that 20 percent. The ideal number of screens, she said, was around 3,000 to 5,000.

A revision of the DNI in the film industry is currently being considered by the government and has garnered the support of around 10 Indonesian film-industry associations and drawn criticism from one, the Indonesian Film Industry Association (APFI) that says the measure seems '€œtoo rushed'€.

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