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Barunson E&a, the production company behind Oscar-winner Parasite, has boarded upcoming Indonesian musical feature Rangga & Cinta – expanding its portfolio of non-Korean content.

As well as signing as a co-investor, the company will handle international sales of the film and launch the title at Hong Kong Filmart next week.

Rangga & Cinta is a reboot of Indonesian box office hit What’s With Love? (Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?), which was the country’s most-watched local film of 2002 and earned around $10m worldwide.

The upcoming feature centres on Cinta, a popular 17-year-old high school girl whose name means “love” in Indonesian. When she falls for Rangga,...

Korea’s Barunson E&a is set to join Indonesian musical film Rangga & Cinta as a co-investor and will launch the film for international sales at Hong Kong’s Filmart, which takes place from March 17 to 20.

Rangga & Cinta is a reboot of the 2002 box office hit What’s With Love? (Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?). The new musical film will revisit the original story, centering on Cinta, a popular 17-year-old high school girl whose name means “love” in Indonesian. When she falls for Rangga, a reclusive schoolmate, her close-knit friendships begin to unravel, forcing her to choose between love and loyalty.

Since launching its international operations in October 2022, Rangga & Cinta marks Barunson E&a’s fourth non-Korean feature for international sales. The Korean company, which produced Parasite, previously launched Vietnamese horror-comedy Don’t Cry, Butterfly. The film won both the Grand Prize and the Most Innovative Feature Award at the 2024 Venice Critics’ Week.

It is no secret that Jero Yun champions the cause of North Korean refugees. This is evident from his shorts like “Hitchhiker” and his feature-length documentaries “Looking for North Koreans” and “Mrs. B: A North Korean Woman”. His debut fictional feature “Beautiful Days”, which debuted at and opened the Busan International Film Festival in 2018, also told a tale of a refugee. Now, he is back with his sophomore fictional feature “Fighter”, which also saw its premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, winning itself the Netpac Award and its star Lim Sung-mi the Best Actress award.

“Fighter” is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival

Ji-na is a North Korean refugee who has just finished her social adjustment training and has been moved into a government-allocated studio apartment. She has but one aim in mind: earn enough money to get her father, who has already defected from the North and is waiting in China,...