FFI 2026 Judging Panel Unveils Rule Changes for Feature Films

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Chairman of the Judging Panel for the 2026 Indonesian Film Festival (FFI), Budi Irawanto, has announced changes to the rules for judging feature films, drawing lessons from the previous year’s event. “The first is the provision that films eligible for awards must be produced by Indonesian individuals or other Indonesian legal entities,” Budi stated during a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday. Production collaborations with foreign companies are still permitted, provided that the majority of the film’s key creative elements are handled by Indonesian citizens. Another change involves renaming a category to Best Original Theme Song Creator, as an effort to appreciate songwriters who contribute to advancing national cinema. Furthermore, whereas previously there were four judging stages, the committee has streamlined the process to three: initial selection, nomination stage, and winner determination. This judging process is expected to produce winners who are superior, substantial, and demonstrate excellence in technical, artistic, and thematic achievements in Indonesian cinema. Another introduced change concerns non-feature length films, where short documentaries now have a minimum duration limit of 10 minutes, compared to 15 minutes at FFI 2025. He added that the essence of FFI judging will continue to maintain a combination of quantitative and qualitative assessment, positioning films both as industrial products that are popular and as cultural works of high value.