SIFF Market, Shanghai, June 21, 2026. The final day of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) is usually packing-up day: booths come down, business cards have already changed hands, and industry people tally what they managed to bring home. Yet in one of the forum rooms of the International Film & TV Market, the lights were still burning bright. Beneath a key visual of a film reel, Borobudur, and mega mendung cloud motifs, Indonesia was holding a discussion session of its own: Indonesian Film Talk — From SIFF Selection to China Market: Opportunity for Southeast Asian Films.
The forum was organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia together with the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in Shanghai, Matta Cinema, and Ruang Basbeth Bercerita. The title was direct, and so was the question behind it: once an Indonesian film has made it through selection at a Category A festival in China, what comes next to actually get it in front of audiences there?
Four Films at China’s Only Category A Festival
SIFF is no ordinary festival. Founded in 1993, it was accredited by FIAPF a year later as the first and only competitive international film festival in Category A in China, a status it holds to this day. The 28th edition, held June 12–21, 2026 under the theme “Lights, Camera, Stories”, set a record: roughly 4,100 films from 125 countries and regions submitted. Of the roughly 3,000 that qualified, 82 percent were either a world premiere or an international premiere.
Amid numbers that size, four Indonesian films made the cut: Jumbo, Yuni, Garuda di Dadaku, and Rencana Besar untuk Mati dengan Tenang, or My Own Last Supper (MOLS). Two of them did more than screen. MOLS, directed by Ismail Basbeth, was nominated in the Golden Goblet Award’s Main Competition, while Garuda di Dadaku by Ronny Gani competed in the animation category. Filmmaker Kamila Andini, director of Yuni, went one step further and took a seat on the jury for the Asian New Talent category.
The MOLS slot in the main competition comes with a footnote of its own. It was one of 12 films, every one of them a world premiere in Shanghai, the first time in the history of the Golden Goblet Award that its main competition was made up 100 percent of films that had never been shown anywhere before.
A Last Supper Knocking on China’s Door
The session’s speakers were the director and producer of MOLS, and the film itself served as a living case study. MOLS tells the story of a 76-year-old widower who invites his children to a “last supper” as the end of his life draws near, set within a Chinese-Indonesian family whose story moves from the 1960s to 2018. Adapted from an award-winning novel and produced by Matta Cinema Production with Ruang Basbeth Bercerita, the film was designed from the outset to reach audiences in mainland China.
“We knew this was going to be a pioneering film focused on Chinese-Indonesians,” producer Lyza Anggraheni told Variety. Her team, she said, is actively looking for a distribution partner in China and hopes to bring the film officially into that market.
Shanghai audiences sent an encouraging signal. After the world premiere on June 16, several MOLS screenings were reported sold out. On Friday, June 19, KJRI Shanghai held a joint screening at CMG Cinema Shanghai attended by 188 guests, among them government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, international journalists, academics, film industry figures, and the Indonesian diaspora.
For Basbeth, the film is a bridge. “I hope that through this work, a deeper relationship can be built between China and Indonesia,” he said.
A Forum Inside a Market on the Rise
Choosing SIFF Market as the stage was no accident. This year the market was upgraded into the International Film & TV Market, a merger of SIFF Market and STVF Market, with 200 international exhibitors, more than 50 industry events in the form of forums and panel discussions, and a target of more than 10,000 professionals from around the world. Its track record speaks plainly: at the 2025 edition, nearly 20 festival films secured theatrical release in China through this route. Singaporean director Anthony Chen, who chaired the Asian New Talent jury this year, summed it up in one simple sentence: “If you’re looking to make your mark in the Chinese film industry, you have to go to Shanghai.“
That is where Indonesian Film Talk positioned itself. From the Ministry of Culture’s point of view, Indonesia’s participation in SIFF 2026 had four objectives:
- Strengthening the nation’s image on the international stage
- Opening up international collaboration for industry players
- Expanding market access for Indonesian filmmakers
- Raising the global competitiveness of the national film industry
Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture Bambang Wibawarta, who attended the series of Indonesian film events in Shanghai, said Indonesian cinema is experiencing extraordinary growth, with work that is gaining ever greater international recognition. The presence of MOLS at SIFF, in his view, proves that a local Indonesian story, told with strength and authenticity, can capture attention and find acceptance with a global audience.
Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Shanghai Berlianto Situngkir added another dimension. Film, he said, has the power to build connections across cultures, introduce a nation’s identity, and open up new economic opportunities through the creative industries.
After the Projector Goes Dark
The day before the forum, the Golden Goblet awards night at the Shanghai Grand Theatre had come and gone. No trophy went home with Indonesia this year. But Indonesian Film Talk made the point that a film’s journey does not end on awards night. Festival selection is the entrance; the market is the room beyond it, and that room is what this forum set out to map for filmmakers from Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
That the forum was staged jointly by a government ministry, a diplomatic mission, and production houses is a message in itself: carrying a film into a foreign market takes more than a good film. It takes an ecosystem moving in step.
Behind the scenes, Jmotion Projects was entrusted with supporting the production of Indonesian Film Talk in Shanghai, so that the forum could run as it should amid the packed agenda of an international film market.
Organizers: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, KJRI Shanghai, Matta Cinema, and Ruang Basbeth Bercerita | Event production support: Jmotion Projects
