Southeast Asian films and series have fared consistently well on Netflix, with some even making it to the Global Top 10 List of what subscribers watched, including Indonesia’s Cigarette Girl and Thailand’s Hunger.
fter its continued success in Asia, streaming giant Netflix has set its focus this year on highlighting works by creators from Southeast Asia through recent and upcoming projects on its over-the-top (OTT) platform.
Netflix held its first-ever presentation centering on Southeast Asian projects during its Asia-Pacific (APAC) showcase on June 13 at the Fairmont Jakarta Hotel in Central Jakarta. Three countries in particular were highlighted: Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
“This is an opportunity to shine a light on the content from [these countries], and we promise viewers that we are committed to bringing great stories from there,” Minyoung Kim, the vice president of APAC content on Netflix, said during the showcase.
Kim emphasized the streaming company’s decision to invest in local creative communities to bring out “authentic stories” from Southeast Asian countries, noting that Indonesia would see “some of the biggest shows” Netflix would introduce this year.
Some of the projects from Indonesia in 2024 include Borderless Fog by award-winning director Edwin, The Shadow Strays by action auteur Timo Tjahjanto, and two projects just released in the past week: Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams and Mouly Surya’s Trigger Warning.
Nightmares and Daydreams, released on June 14 following year-long anticipation, is the first Netflix original series by household filmmaker Joko. It is also fertile ground for the director to experiment with a new genre in the country: Supernatural sci-fi.
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