Joko Anwar
Joko Anwar | |
|---|---|
 Joko Anwar in 2007 at the International Film Festival Rotterdam | |
| Born | 3 January 1976 |
| Education | Bandung Institute of Technology |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Website | Official website |
Joko Anwar (born 3 January 1976) is an Indonesian filmmaker. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, he worked as a journalist, film critic, and later a writer and actor. He is known as a versatile filmmaker whose works ranging from award-winning arthhouse movies to box office hits [1] including romantic comedy film Joni's Promise (2005), noir thriller Dead Time: Kala (2007), thriller film The Forbidden Door (2009), drama film A Copy of My Mind (2015), horror film Satan's Slaves (2017), and superhero film Gundala (2019).
Biography
Early life
Anwar was born in Medan, North Sumatera where he grew up watching kung fu movies and horror films.[2] He had also written and directed plays as a student. He went to the prestigious Bandung Institute of Technology to study Aerospace Engineering because his family could not afford to send him to a film school. After graduating in 1999, he became a journalist at The Jakarta Post and later a film critic.
Career
During an interview with Nia Dinata for The Jakarta Post, the film producer was impressed and asked him to write for her new project which was later titled Arisan! (2003).[2] The film earned commercial and critical success and won numerous awards including "Best Film" at the 2005 Indonesian Film Festival and "Best Movie" at the 2004 MTV Indonesia Movie Awards. He went on to direct a feature film, the romantic comedy Janji Joni (Joni's Promise) (2005), which he wrote when he was in college in 1998. This feature directorial debut was the #1 box office hit in Indonesia that year and won "Best Movie" at the 2005 MTV Indonesia Movie Awards. SET Foundation which is chaired by renowned Indonesian filmmaker Garin Nugroho gave him a special award for innovative storytelling in a movie. Janji Joni (Joni's Promise) was selected in several prestigious international film festivals including by Sydney Film Festival and Pusan International Film Festival. The film revived the career of Barry Prima, an international cult martial-art actor, who is Anwar's childhood hero.[2]
In 2007, Joko Anwar wrote and directed Kala, Indonesia's first tribute to film noir which won rave reviews from critics. Sight & Sound picked the film as one of the year's best and also named Anwar as one of the smartest filmmakers in Asia.[3] The film was screened in numerous film festivals and won a Jury Prize at the New York Asian Film Festival.[4] The Hollywood Reporter wrote the film as "a sophisticated noir whodunit in homage to Fritz Lang's M".[5]
In additions to films that Anwar directed himself, he has also written several screenplays for other directors, including a sex comedy Quickie Express which won Best Film of 2008 at the Jakarta International Film Festival and a cat-and-mouse thriller Jakarta Undercover. Both movies are box-office success. He also wrote Fiksi which won several awards in Indonesia including Best Film and Best Screenplay at the Indonesian Film Festival.
Anwar's next film, The Forbidden Door, was released in 2009 which is a psychological thriller which has also received rave reviews from critics. Richard Corliss of Time wrote that "As slick as it is sick, the movie could be Anwar's calling card for international employment, if only Hollywood moguls wanted something out of their own narrow range". He also mentioned the film as an "example of what movies could be but rarely dare to try".[6] Maggie Lee of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Anwar's film "would make Hitchcock and Almodóvar proud", and mentioned that "Joko Anwar accessorizes his creepy suspense-horror with a dazzling array of auteur-homage".[7] The film has been screened in several film festivals including in The Times BFI London Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Modus Anomali is Anwar's fourth film and it premiered at South by Southwest where it received generally positive reviews including from Richard Kuipers of Variety who called it "A brainteaser" and "this extreme arthouse entry will leave a lasting impression on many auds".[8] It received international distributions in several countries including theatrical release in France. For North America release, the movie was retitled Ritual.
In 2014, Anwar made his fifth feature A Copy of My Mind which won rave reviews from critics and premiered at Venice Film Festival. The movie which was shot in 8 days mixed romance with current political situation in Indonesia at that time.[9]
Satan's Slaves is Joko Anwar's sixth movie and was both a critical and commercial success. It became the highest-grossing horror film of all time in Indonesia and was distributed in many territories. It won seven Citra Awards in Indonesia, and Best Film at Overlook Film Festival.[10] Richard Kuipers of Variety wrote "suspenseful and emotionally engaging exercise that also benefits from well-timed shots of deadpan humor along the way."[11]
Anwar then wrote and directed Gundala in 2017 which was set to launch a cinematic universe based on Indonesia's vast comic book characters.[12] The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Victor Stiff of That Shelf wrote "From beginning to end, Gundala delivers fast and furious action and rarely stops to take its foot off the gas."[13]
Anwar's eighth film, Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (known in English as Impetigore), also became a critical and commercial success.[14] It premiered at Sundance Film Festival where it received generally positive reviews. Josh Hurtado of Screen Anarchy wrote "Joko Anwar continues to carve out a niche for himself as one of the world's leading genre auteurs, going from strength to strength, he's got an incredibly impressive body of work already, and seems to only get better as he becomes more ambitious. Impetigore is a film that will certainly resonate with genre fest audiences, and hopefully the success of Satan's Slaves and Impetigore will bring new converts to worship at the altar of Anwar."[15]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Writer | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Joni Be Brave | Yes | No | Yes | Short |
| Arisan! | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2004 | Ajeng Ajeng | Yes | No | Yes | Documentary |
| 2005 | Janji Joni | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2007 | Jakarta Undercover | No | No | Yes | |
| Dead Time: Kala | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| Quickie Express | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2008 | Fiksi. | No | No | Yes | |
| 2009 | The Forbidden Door | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2012 | Ritual | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Grave Torture | Yes | No | Yes | Short | |
| Fresh to Move On | Yes | No | Yes | Short | |
| Durable Love | Yes | No | Yes | Short | |
| Suncatchers | Yes | No | Yes | Short | |
| 2013 | The New Found | Yes | No | Yes | Short |
| 2015 | A Copy of My Mind | Yes | Executive | Yes | |
| 2016 | Jenny | Yes | No | Yes | Short |
| Don't Blink | Yes | No | Yes | Short | |
| 2017 | Stip & Pensil | No | No | Yes | |
| Satan's Slaves | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| Jalanin Aja | Yes | No | Yes | Short | |
| 2019 | Orang Kaya Baru | No | No | Yes | |
| Gundala | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| Impetigore | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| Ratu Ilmu Hitam | No | No | Yes |
Acting roles
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Arisan! | Restaurant Manager | |
| 2006 | Love for Share | Producer | |
| 2008 | Mereka Bilang, Saya Monyet! | Manager | |
| Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly | Yahya | ||
| 2009 | Macabre | Yuppie #3 | |
| 2010 | Madame X | Aline | |
| 2012 | Parts of the Heart | Peter (age 35) | |
| Missing | The Neighbour | Short | |
| 2014 | Before the Morning Repeated | Member of DPR | |
| 2015 | Nay | Pram | Voice |
| Melancholy is a Movement | Himself | ||
| 2016 | Three Sassy Sisters | Taxi Driver | |
| 2017 | Galih & Ratna | Dedy | |
| My Generation | Konji's Dad | ||
| The Underdogs | Ellie's Dad | ||
| Satan's Slaves | Dono Budiono | ||
| 2018 | Fly by Night | Alan | |
| Daysleepers | Tito | ||
| 27 Steps of May | Opponent's Boxer Manager | ||
| Ave Maryam | Father Martin |
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | Halfworlds | Yes | No | Yes | Season 1; 8 episodes |
| 2018 | Folklore | Yes | No | Yes | Episode: "A Mother's Love" |
Education
- SMA Negeri 1 Medan (1993)
- Wheeling Park High School, West Virginia, US (1994)
- Institut Teknologi Bandung, Aeronautical Engineering (1999)
References
- ^ "'Gundala' hitmaker Joko Anwar on Indonesian society and what drives him". South China Morning Post. 6 January 2020.
- ^ a b c "Joko Anwar Profile on The Jakarta Post (2007-)". Archived from the original on 5 March 2011.
- ^ "Sight & Sound Films of 2007 (2007)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2008.
- ^ Twitch.com Report(2008)
- ^ "New Movie Reviews & Film Reviews". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ "Asian Film Fireworks for the Fourth (2009)".
- ^ "The Forbidden Door -- Film Review (2009)".
- ^ Kuipers, Richard (14 October 2012). "Modus Anomali". Variety. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ "Joko Anwar's new film, 'A Copy of My Mind' is the only Southeast Asian film to be selected for the 2015 Venice Film Festival | Coconuts Jakarta". coconuts.co. 31 July 2015.
- ^ Aldrich, Ryland (25 April 2018). "Overlook 2018 Awards Wrap: Top Prize for Satan's Slaves, Big Win for All Attendees". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Kuipers, Richard (30 January 2018). "Rotterdam Film Review: 'Satan's Slaves'". Variety. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Robinson, Tasha (13 September 2019). "The Indonesian superhero film Gundala is out to launch a vast cinematic universe". The Verge. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ "TIFF 2019: Gundala Review". 17 September 2019.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (24 October 2019). "Joko Anwar's 'Impetigore' Tops Indonesia Box Office Ahead of Film Markets". Variety. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Hurtado, J (31 January 2020). "Sundance 2020 Review: Impetigore, Indonesia's Pre-Colonial Traditions Terrify In Joko Anwar's Latest". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
External links
Media related to Joko Anwar at Wikimedia Commons
