Jakarta World Cinema to Revive First Feature Competition in 2026

Jakarta World Cinema plans to revive its First Feature Competition next year, opening the category to filmmakers worldwide and judging it with an international jury, festival director Shandy Gasella told Variety.

The competition sat out this year's edition. The festival did not accept submissions because it could not assemble an international jury — a practical obstacle, not a creative one. "[Previously] we've only had Indonesian judges," Gasella said. Next year, the team wants jury members with strong filmographies so the category can accept entries from anywhere.

What does the pause reveal?

The gap says more than the announcement. A festival that programs 80-90% award-winning films from Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Sundance — the figure comes from Frederica, executive director of Jakarta World Cinema and director of KlikFilm, who oversees acquisitions — has not yet built the international network to staff a jury. The pledge to return is real; the mechanism is still being assembled.

The festival's calendar position is tight either way. Jakarta World Cinema sits between Jakarta Film Week in October and the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival at the end of November. Frederica said the festival's aim is to bring "the year's most important art films" to local audiences, sourcing them on the circuit: "We travel to [different] film markets, Berlin, Toronto, Cannes, etc."

A record edition, with room to grow

This year's program counts 102 theatrical titles — the most in the festival's history — within a total lineup of 207 films. Programming director Daniel Irawan says the goal for next year is to expand the lineup and keep working with the main venue, CGV Grand Indonesia, to increase audience capacity. Capacity, not demand, is the stated constraint.

What happens to the short film winners?

The short film competition, held in June, drew more than 300 entries from professionals, amateurs and students. All 30 competition titles and 20 non-competition titles on the shortlist will screen during the festival. Two awards close the event:

• Best short film, announced on closing day, carries full funding from KlikFilm for the production and distribution of a debut feature.
• An audience choice award, also announced on closing day.

The funding prize gives the short competition a concrete career path — one that the First Feature Competition, when it returns, would sit directly above.

State money, then a wider map

The festival runs on Dana Indonesiaraya, a matching fund shared by the government and the film industry, according to Indonesian Culture Minister Fadli Zon. That backing comes with a built-in test: a government co-funded festival opening a competition to global filmmakers will need jury appointments that read as independent to outside entrants.

After the Jakarta edition closes on Nov. 7, the same program travels to Bandung World Cinema and Malang World Cinema, two local extensions running Nov. 14–21.

The promise, then, is double: a worldwide competition and a bigger edition, both scheduled for next year. The part left unsaid is who the international jurors will be — and until those names appear, the revival remains a plan rather than a lineup.