Film of JKT48 in Production

Details of a film featuring members of JKT48 surfaced yesterday, although an official press conference by JKT48 Operations Team is not scheduled until later this week. The film will produced by Maxima Pictures and directed by Awi Suryadi. Principal photography is scheduled to begin on 5 July, one day after the conclusion of the group’s five-city concert tour. A release date has not been announced. It is also not known which members will appear in the film or whether the film format will be fiction or non-fiction.

A teaser poster featuring JKT48 center Melody Nurramdhani Laksani was released with lyrics to the Indonesian version of “Aitakatta” (“Ingin Bertemu”). It was designed by Iman Nulchakim.

Maxima Pictures, or PT. Maxima Entertainment, is an Indonesian film production studio founded in 2004 by two former bankers. Since its first release Cinta Pertama (First Love) in 2006, it has been credited with over 30 locally produced films. Its most recent production, a romance drama titled Refrain, was released on 20 June.

Maxima Pictures has previously been under the spotlight of controversy when it starred the Japanese AV (adult video) idol Maria Ozawa, also known as Miyabi, in the 2010 films Menculik Miyabi (Kidnapping Miyabi) and Hantu Tanah Kusir (The Ghost of Tanah Kusir). In an interview with Men’s Emporium Asia magazine that same year, studio co-founder Ody Mulya Hidayat addressed the role of women featured in the films he has produced, which have featured attractive actresses from Japan and Taiwan.

Awi Suryadi is a 35-year-old director who made his directorial debut in 2005 with the romance comedy film Gue Kapok Jatuh Cinta (I’m Tired of Falling in Love). This film of JKT48 will be the second to be directed by him at Maxima Pictures. In a 2009 interview with the Jakarta Globe, Awi has expressed his interest in developing the domestic film industry. “There is a type of audience which is sort of ‘anti-Indonesia’, which I don’t like,” Awi said. “There’s also another type that follows local movies but is into cheap horror flicks. I just hope audiences will be able to develop better taste.”

Reports of the film surfaced on Monday through an article written by the news portal Kabarindo. According to the writer, Maxima Pictures co-founder Yoen K revealed the project privately through the mobile messaging system WhatsApp. The studio’s spokeperson Yan Widjaja confirmed the story when contacted by the writers. Kabarindo names the film JKT48 the Movie, but it is unknown whether this title is preliminary or final.