Some of the best films, including those screened at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, will be available for you to watch on the big screen at the 2022 BaliMakarya Film Festival (BFF).
The 2022 edition of BFF was launched yesterday at Studio XXI Kuta Beachwalk with the screening of Indonesian movie Tegar (Strong). Directed by Anggi Frisca, the film tells the story about a boy with a disability who has to find the courage to leave his house after being left home alone by his family.
BFF organizers hope the festival can propel Bali into becoming a hub for major film festivals, particularly in Southeast Asia.
BFF will conclude this Friday at venues such as Park 23 XXI and Beachwalk XXI. They will also hold a sunset cinema viewing (so nostalgic!) at Discovery Mall.
Some of the highlights – or, should we say, unmissable movies – include Joyland (2022), a Pakistani Urdu-language film telling the story of the son of a strict patriarch who falls in love with a transgender dancer. Joyland, the first Pakistani film to premiere at Cannes Film Festival, was received with a standing ovation after its screening. The film is also Pakistan’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 95th Academy Awards next year.
Another film that premiered at Cannes this year, Return to Seoul, will also be featured at BFF. It narrates the story of a French adoptee in his mid-20s who decides to find his biological family in South Korea.
Singapore’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 95th Academy Awards, Ajomma (meaning “auntie”), is also included.
Indonesian films are well-represented in BFF, most notably with the screening of Nana (international title: Before, Now, & Then), a Kamila Andini-directed feature about a Sundanese woman in the 1960s who befriends her husband’s mistress. Starring Happy Salma and Laura Basuki, the film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year.
All films are open to the public and free. Check out the full schedule here. For their sunset cinema program schedule, click here.
