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As we have mentioned many times before, the epicenter of martial arts cinema has moved to the Asean countries, with Indonesia being one of the most dominant ones. US-educated Randolph Zaini tries to continue in the footsteps of “The Raid” and “The Night Comes For Us”, by introducing a new element, that of a protagonist who is deaf.

Preman is screening on New York Asian Film Festival

The aforementioned man is named Sandi, and works as a preman, which the movie defines as thugs who considered themselves to be men of honor and justice, but were despised by the public for their violent ways. The connections of his organization with the police is established from the beginning, since Guru, a cop, is soon revealed to be the leader of the criminal syndicate, whose purpose is to oust a number of people from their homes, in order for construction to take cover.

As we have mentioned many times before, the epicenter of martial arts cinema has moved to the Asean countries, with Indonesia being one of the most dominant ones. US-educated Randolph Zaini tries to continue in the footsteps of “The Raid” and “The Night Comes For Us”, by introducing a new element, that of a protagonist who is deaf.

The aforementioned man is named Sandi, and works as a preman, which the movie defines as thugs who considered themselves to be men of honor and justice, but were despised by the public for their violent ways. The connections of his organization with the police is established from the beginning, since Guru, a cop, is soon revealed to be the leader of the criminal syndicate, whose purpose is to oust a number of people from their homes, in order for construction to take cover. Sandi, however, is reluctant to do his work...

Faozal Rizal has made a name for himself in Indonesian cinema as a cinematographer, in productions like “Salawaku” and “Kartini”. Occasionally though, he also sits in the director’s chair, with his latest endeavor being “Abracadabra”, a film that seems to follow the style of Wes Anderson, although through a distinct Indonesian flavor that also entails much surrealism.

Abracadabra is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

The film follows the story of Lukman, a magician, and of a magic wooden box that another, older magician, Barnas, has convinced the local police chief to confiscate. During one of Lukman’s shows, that the two men also attend, he asks a young boy to get into the aforementioned box to make him disappear. The trick is successful, but Lukman finds himself unable to bring the boy back, as he is nowhere to be found. The police chief sees the event as...

Salvita Decorte was born in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, and started a career as a model at the age of 15, becoming a brand ambassador for Volcom in 2012. Salvita also inherited a love of art from her parents who were both painters, she specializes in abstract paintings.

Salvita’s career as an actress began in 2014 with a supporting role in the film “Mantan Terindah”. She won the lead role in “Lily: Bunga Terakhirku”, co-starring Baim Wong, and she is best known for “The Night Comes for Us“, “DreadOut” and “Preman”. Besides the big screen, Salvita has a starring role in Season one of the HBO series “Halfworlds”.

We talked with Salvita about her passion for painting, working with Indonesian top directors Joko Anwar and Timo Tjahjanto, going from modelling to kicking asses in action movies, and more.

“Lily: Bunga Terakhirku”

From what I understand, apart from actress, you are also a painter.

"You're the only one who has been to the other side and back." Screen Media Films has debuted an official trailer for an indie sci-fi thriller titled Portals, an anthology film featuring a number of segments (three in total + a wrap-around story) all connected to cosmic events happening all over the world. After a series of blackouts, mysterious cosmic anomalies appear everywhere across. The few who are drawn to them, curious about what's inside, don't return. "With our collective love for horror anthologies, we wanted to challenge ourselves and do something new, unique and more cosmic from what's already been done previously," said creator and producer Chris White. "I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised by what Portals is offering especially with our line up of seriously kick-ass filmmakers... Get ready for an awesome ride!" The sci-fi film stars Neil Hopkins, Deanna Russo, Gretchen Lodge, Natacha Gott, Phet Mahathongdy,...

Stars: Caitlin Halderman, Jefri Nichol, Marsha Aruan, Ciccio Manassero, Susan Sameh, Irsyadillah, Cathy Natafitria Fakandi, Salvita Decorte | Written and Directed by Kimo Stamboel

What feels like a very long time ago now, I played this amazingly brilliant and actually creepy horror survival game on the Playstation 2 called Fatal Frame. It made you walk around in creepy old houses armed with just a camera. And I got the same vibes when I was watching Dreadout. So it came as no surprise when I learnt this movie was based on an Indonesian video game of the same name that is clearly heavily influenced by the Fatal Frame series of games.

In Dreadout a group of young adults enter a tower block that has been cordoned off by police, in the hope that filming their adventure will make their social media accounts more popular. The cameras on their phones becoming a much-needed asset,...

Malignant forces within Catholic tales of evil generally seek to create Hell on Earth by finding a host willing to read the ancient words serving as their key. It’s therefore rare to receive scenes of demonic possession wherein a writhing body with black fluid spewing from its mouth screams for a portal not to be opened. But that’s exactly how writer/director Kimo Stamboel opens his cinematic adaptation of DreadOut—an indie survival horror video game from Indonesia. He introduces a group of men holding the demon down while also coercing a woman (Salvita Decorte’s Nancy) to read a phrase only she sees on a weathered piece of parchment. Her young daughter is held captive, the police are banging on the door, and we’re at a complete loss for comprehension.

We fast-forward a few years to meet Linda (Caitlin Halderman) waking from a nightmare in Ms.