JAFF Market 2025 unveiled the second edition of the JAFF Future Project, featuring 10 fiction and documentary titles spanning the Asia-Pacific region. The selection features a roster of established and emerging filmmakers whose works reflect the region’s evolving narratives and the potential for cross-border collaboration.
Scheduled to run from November 29 to December. 1 at the Jogja Expo Center in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the initiative is part of the broader celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (JAFF). The Future Project functions as both a development platform and co-production hub, designed to advance independent works towards completion and distribution.
Notable names in this year’s lineup include acclaimed Korean director Park Kiyong, who returns to cinema with “Ghost Island,” produced by Ho Yuhang. Ho’s own project, “The Silent Village,” won two awards at last year’s Future Project. Indonesian filmmaker Eddie Cahyono follows up his award-winning feature “Siti,” screened in Telluride, with “My Mother.” Australian director Aaron Wilson, whose films “Canopy” and “Little Tornadoes” have played on the international festival circuit, presents “Under the Banyan Moon.”
The selection process was based on an open call held from August 1 to September 1. 1, attracting submissions from across the region. A selection committee comprising filmmaker and comedian Ernest Prakasa, producers Fauzan Zidni and Tia Hasibuan evaluated the projects based on strength of storytelling, creative vision, feasibility and market readiness.
For the second year in a row, JAFF Future Project has renewed its partnership with the Adelaide Film Festival and Mylab, expanding avenues for creative exchange between Asia and Australia.
“In this second year of partnership, we continue to pave the way for filmmakers from Asia and Australia to engage in meaningful exchanges to support the region’s independent film ecosystem,” said Mat Kesting, Managing Director and Creative Director of the Adelaide Film Festival.
Lorna Tee, JAFF Market Advisor and Mylab Curator, added: “With JAFF Market’s commitment to supporting early-stage projects, we are helping to build a more connected creative landscape in the Asia Pacific region.
Throughout the three-day market, participating filmmakers will present their works in curated pitch sessions and one-on-one meetings with producers, investors and industry partners.
Selected participants will compete for prizes totaling more than $74,000 in cash and production support. Cash prizes include the Visinema Awards ($3,000 for two projects) and the United Team of Arts Awards ($6,000 for one project). Production and post-production packages include the Brandlink Awards ($30,000 in equipment for two projects), the Kongchak Awards (sound design installation worth $10,000), the White Light Awards (color grading and mastering worth $15,000), and the Prodigihouse Ecosystem Awards (editing and color grading worth $10,000).
“Our selection process goes beyond story selection,” said Linda Gozali, market director of JAFF Market. “It’s about identifying creators who can inspire new partnerships and move their projects towards fruition. Through the JAFF Future Project, we see this as a long-term investment in creative infrastructure, which connects filmmakers with international networks, development labs and co-production partners, ensuring that promising ideas do not remain on paper but are transformed into impactful works.”
The impact of the initiative is already visible in the success of alumni. “Pangku” (On Your Knees), the debut film of Indonesian actor Reza Rahadian, emerged from last year’s Future Project after winning the White Light Post-Production Award. The film was selected for HAF Goes to Cannes at the Marché du Film and won four major awards at the 2025 Busan International Film Festival.
JAFF Market 2025 is powered by Amar Bank. The Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival runs from November 29 to December. 6.
JAFF FUTURE 2025 PROJECT – FULL RANGE OF PROJECTS
“A life full of holes” (development)
A teenage girl travels abroad to find her mother, a migrant worker, only to discover that she has died and leaves behind a child from a difficult relationship.
Country: Indonesia | Director: Loeloe Hendra Komara | Producers: Indra Yudhitya, Dewi Umaya, Loeloe Hendra Komara | Production company: Onomastika Films
“Evil Underground” (development)
Two estranged sisters must overcome their broken bond to escape shapeshifting entities in the basement of an old shopping mall after performing a deadly ritual.
Country: Indonesia | Director: Adriyanto Dewo | Producers: Perlita Desiani, Tina Arwin | Production company: Related films
“Ghost Island” (development)
When her husband disappears during their honeymoon on Jeju Island, an Indonesian woman’s research uncovers parallel Cold War massacres in Korea and Bali.
Country: South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia | Director: Park Kiyong | Producers: Park Kiyong, Ho Yuhang | Production Company: Paperheart Sdn Bhd
“Mother” (Development)
A dissatisfied filmmaker returns from Los Angeles to Yogyakarta after the death of her stepfather, where clashes with her domineering mother force her to confront the silence of her marriage.
Country: Indonesia, United States | Director: Kanya Iwana | Producer: Zack Rice | Production company: Feed You Films
“Rose Pandanwangi” (Development)
A talented Indonesian soprano returns home to the 1950s to start over, but as her marriage fails and turmoil deepens, she must choose between her family, true love and her musical ambitions.
Country: Indonesia, Philippines | Director: Razka Robby Ertanto | Producers: Razka Robby Ertanto, Kristine de Leon, Chelsea Islan | Production company: Summerland
“To my dearest, my dearest…” (Development)
After his cancer returns, Adam discovers a way to travel back in time to meet the girl he never saw, attempting to heal old wounds before time runs out.
Country: Indonesia | Director: Netanya Yemima | Producers: Bela Nabila, Bayu Arief | Production Company: Mother’s Prayer Frames
“Under the Banyan Moon” (development)
An Australian teacher travels to Indonesia after ending her engagement, where a reunion with her first love and connection with her enigmatic best friend force her to choose between nostalgia and a new future.
Country: Australia, Indonesia | Director: Aaron Wilson | Producer: Aaron Wilson | Production company: Left-Handed Productions
“Aluk” (work in progress)
An observational documentary follows three generations of a family in Tana Toraja over seven years as they cope with the loss of their patriarch and the uncertain future of their community amid rapid transformation.
Country: Australia, Indonesia | Director: Chris CF | Producers: Sam Hewison, Wahyu Al Mardhani | Production company: Cut by Dog Production
“My mother” (Work-in-Progress)
A widow wants to meet her daughter who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for the murder of her employer, but the daughter refuses, having never forgiven her mother for her past betrayals.
Country: Indonesia | Director: Eddie Cahyono | Producers: Tika Bravani, Eddie Cahyono, Isabelle Glachant | Production companies: ANP Talenta Media, Memorieslight Pictures, Yasa Buana Film, Knockonwood.inc, Sasha & Co Production
“Our Son” (Work-in-Progress)
Two childless married couples raise an unexpected son born from an illicit affair between the two households, and amid the chaos of a paternity revelation, the two wives take parenting into their own hands.
Country: Indonesia | Director: Luhki Herwanayogi | Producer: Iqbal Mohammad Hamdan | Production company: Catchlight Pictures
