Four new Indonesia-Malaysia collaborations were unveiled this morning at the opening session of the second JAFF Market in Yogyakarta, highlighting soaring ties between production leaders in the two countries and signs that India is putting its hand up to participate more heavily in regional initiatives.

The four producers involved in the latest projects features are Izham Omar's Komet Productions, Shamin Yusof's Skop Productions, Lina Tan's Red Communications and Charles Gazali's Magma Entertainment. 

The four titles on the way are the Indonesian adaptation of "Munafik", "Khurafat Indonesia", "Khadam" and "Badut Gendong".

"The four films signal a positive trend in unlocking the potential in the creative synergy between the two countries located in a region geographically known as Nusantara," the companies said during this morning's session. 

"Munafik", the  Indonesian remake of Malaysian blockbuster horror franchise from Skop Productions and Syamsul Yusof, has wrapped principal photography and is now in post-production. Directed by Guntur Soeharjanto and featuring Arya Saloka and Acha Septriasa, a first-look teaser was screened this morning. 

The Indonesian production is helmed by Oswin Bonifanz of Unlimited Productions. Other producers include Malaysia’s Skop Productions, Komet Productions and Indonesia’s A&Z Films, Legacy Pictures.

Following on the momentum set by the Indonesian remake of "Munafik", an Indonesian remake of the original horror-religious Malaysian film, "Khurafat" was also announced. Directed by Syamsul Yusof, the original "Khurafat" broke Malaysian box-office records. Malaysia’s Zahir Omar is attached as director for the Indonesian remake.

“Our increasing collaboration with Indonesia’s leading producers and creatives reflects our commitment to working with the very best talent in the region. By entrusting two of our biggest franchises, "Munafik" and "Khurafat", to be reimagined as marquee Indonesian films by top-tier Indonesian filmmakers, we are making a bold statement. It highlights our ambition to deliver compelling, high-quality stories that can captivate audiences across borders," Skop Productions' CEO, Shamin Yusof, said. 

This morning's session also screened the first-look at "Khadam", a horror-drama from Malaysia featuring Indonesia’s premier horror actress Aghniny Haque and Malaysia’s A-lister Remy Ishak.

"Khadam" is currently in post-production. Directed by Shamyl Othman, the film involves Malaysian producers Komet Productions and Red Communications, China’s Sil-Metropole and India’s Applause Entertainment. Indonesia’s MAGMA Entertainment as also an executive producer. 

Southeast Asia’s rising producer Komet Productions, fresh off Indonesian collaborations with Joko Anwar’s Come And See Pictures ("Siksa Kubur") and Visinema’s Bion Studios is involved in the films launched this morning, saying this morning that the projects "cement our intent on continual investment and production of Southeast Asia films".

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Ahmad Izham Omar, Chief Explorer of Komet, said "“This event is the perfect opportunity to describe what we call the new Nusantara wave, where we can see a marked increase in creative collaboration between our two countries. There is so much potential for new levels of synergy and quality when we combine talents, ideas and skills from Indonesia and Malaysia."

MAGMA Entertainment also unveiled a first-look of "Badut Gendong", a co-production between Indonesia’s MAGMA Entertainment, in association with Legacy Pictures, Virtuelines Entertainment, VMS Studio, Caravan Studios and Malaysia’s Komet Productions, Skop Productions, Astro Shaw and India’s Applause Entertainment. Badut Gendong is directed by Charles Gozali and features Marthino Lio, Dayinta Melira, Clara Bernadeth and Derby Romero.

“When different cultures, backgrounds and skillsets come together to create, we will never ever be able to predict the magic that will happen,"  CEO of MAGMA Entertainment, Linda Gozali, said. 

CEO of National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), Azmir Mutalib, said this morning that the new projects were "a very positive development of co-production efforts between Indonesia and Malaysia”. 

The Nusantara Wave: The Rise Of Indonesia-Malaysia Collaborations session was also attended by Oswin Bonifanz, CEO of Unlimited Productions and actress Izabel Jahja who appears in the Indonesian remake of Munafik. Charles Gozali, director of Badut Gendong and the blockbuster horror-action franchise Qodrat, was also in attendance.