Is Southeast Asia Becoming The New Europe?; Local Indies Thrive On Funds, Labs & Co-productions

Let’s face it – even with Avatar: The Way Of Water bringing some much needed year-end box office cheer, 2022 has been a bit of a depressing year. The roaring ‘20s post-pandemic recovery we were promised has yet to materialise. So I’m going to end the year with an uplifting story – examining the recent success of Southeast Asian independent cinema – but ever the realist, I’m also going to ask if this success is sustainable, given that the region has a few challenges of its own. This is a long story, so I’m splitting it across two newsletters. First part will look at what happened to Southeast Asian cinema this year…

Southeast Asian indie cinema has had another stellar year on the international film festival circuit, starting with two films from female directors – Leonor Will Never Die, from the Philippines’ Martika Ramirez Escobar, which won the Special Jury Award: Innovative Spirit in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic competition, and Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andini’s Before, Now And…