Taking place in the heart of Indonesia’s bustling metropolis, the Jakarta Independent Film Festival brings indie shorts from around the world.

Aiming to highlight films of different genres and styles, and from different countries, we are looking for stories that capture the imagination, talent, and diversity of independent filmmakers. The Festival’s first edition, which was held online in 2020 due to the COVID-19 restrictions was a great success attracting filmmakers, an international audience and industry experts. However, the Jakarta Independent Film Festival was created with the aspiration to become a meeting point for cinephiles and industry professionals. Therefore the third edition in 2022 was held both online and offline with screenings, roundtables, and Q&As. It was a two-day celebration marking the Festival’s new era.

Being loyal to our vision, we work hard to make the annual Jakarta Independent Film Festival a connecting platform that will bring the audience back to the cinema halls.

Jakarta Independent Film Festival is organised by HFP, a pioneer organisation that runs Film Festivals and other events showcasing and championing ideas of diversity. Through our global series of film Festivals that spread over 13 countries, we open the path to voices with a compelling story to share. Our main mission is to honour independent cinema and establish a network of artists eager to join forces and spread their work across all nations. HFP runs 25 film Festivals worldwide.

Awards & Prizes

Our panel of international judges will shortlist nominees of each category for the Official Selection. The selected films from the Official Selection will be screened and at the end of the festival, will also hold an award ceremony, where we will be awarding winners from these categories.

International Short Film
International Feature Film
International Short Documentary
International Feature Documentary
Indonesian Short Film
Indonesian Short Documentary
Short Director
Short Animation
Audio Visual Project

Non Monetary gifts to be awarded to winners of all categories.

Rules & Terms

Rules Template for 2024 Events
✓ All films must be submitted in English or with English subtitles (if in a different language).

✓ All films must have been made in or after 2022.

✓ Short films must not exceed 45 minutes.

✓ Filmmakers are responsible for sorting out the copyright on their own materials.

✓ By submitting to us, you give us consent and right to screen your film in front of a live audience, and, under special circumstances, online screening.

✓ Nominations: These are all the films that have been nominated for an award in a category. Not all nominated films will be screened.

Official Selection: These are all the nominated films selected for screening, which will be notified via email. If you received a Nomination email, but no Official Selection email, it means your film will not be screened, but is still a contender for an award in its category.

Award Winners: Chosen from the Nominations (which includes the Official Selection).

✓ We may promote clips from your film on social media, based on the press kits you provide us with.

✓ We retain the right to change the date and venue of the festival under special circumstances. All filmmakers will be informed about any changes through email and our online platforms.

✓ We place no restrictions on your work in terms of premiere status or whether your work has been made available online.

✓ We do not accept partial screeners, trailers, or screener links that require access other than password protected links.

✓ Any technical issues with the submitted films are 100% the responsibility of the filmmakers. If, at the time of judging, your video file doesn’t work or doesn’t have English subtitles (if in a language other than English), it will be automatically rejected, without a refund. Please contact the festival team ASAP if there are any issues with the submission process, and a solution will be found.

✓ We cannot provide refunds.

✓ If you have submitted your project in the previous year, please do not resubmit the same project to the current edition.

✓ By submitting to us you agree to our terms and conditions and to receiving marketing newsletters and discounts about film festivals in the form of emails. We will never sell your information to third parties.

✓ We reserve the right to update our terms and conditions.
12 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Arjan Onderdenwijngaard

    A small, well organized and intimate festival: 5 days online screenings and 2 days offline filmscreenings, Q&A sessions and networking. Compliments to the organizers, the jury and all the volunteers.
    Thanks for selecting and nominating my short film OPERA JALANAN.
    I will definitely submit my next film to the festival. Thanks

    November 2022
    Helpful
  • Sergio Kotsovoulos

    Thank you for having “echo” in Jakarta it was an honour to be nominated in your festival!

    November 2022
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  • Indira Iman

    Thank you for having Rong! JIFF is only in its 2nd edition, but i think it already is one of the best film festival in Indonesia. There's plenty of programmes, the films are diverse, and most importantly the festival made sure the filmmakers is well-informed and felt included with its QnAs, social media tagging, etc. Keep up the good work!

    November 2021
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  • tekun ji

    One of the hidden gem film festival in Indonesia. We won the best International Feature award for This is Not A Love Story, and very happy to be part of the festival. Although the event held online during the pandemic in a short time span, we had great interaction with the viewers and fellow filmmakers. The JIFF team is very professional.

    October 2021
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  • Nick Calpakdjian

    We had a great experience with JIFF. Although the festival was held online because of the pandemic, the team kept us fully informed and did a great job in promoting the screenings and organising Q&As with the filmmakers. Very happy to be part of the experience.

    October 2021
    Helpful