A Cultural Economy of the Contemporary Indonesian Film Industry

Abstract

Following the end of the New Order (1967-1998) and the subsequent period of reformasi, Indonesian feature films revitalized as a mode of cultural expression and as a culture industry. By 2008, filmmaking was dominated by a new generation of filmmakers and their films were prevalent in Indonesia¿s cinemas. Whereas pre-1998 filmmaking was subject to state control and operated through a cultural economy of national cinema, after 1998 film integrated with prevailing modes of pop culture. As the first major study of the Indonesian film industry since 1998, this thesis asks: How did filmmaking and the film industry revitalize? What are the consequences of film becoming pop culture? By deploying a cultural economy approach, this thesis analyses the sociology of film production in combination with a cultural analysis of a selection of films, to answer the above questions. In doing so, it shows that current film production remains structured by the past and is subject to the logic of pop culture.