Joko Anwar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joko Anwar
Joko Anwar receiving Citra Award for Best Director of his movie A Copy of My Mind at 2015 Indonesian Film Festival
Born	(1976-01-03) 3 January 1976 (age 49) Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Education	Bandung Institute of Technology
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	2003–present
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Joko Anwar (born 3 January 1976) is a famous Indonesian film director, producer, screenwriter, and even an actor. Before he started making movies, he worked as a journalist and film critic.

Joko Anwar first became well-known for helping write the movie Arisan! in 2003. This film was a big hit and won many awards. He then directed his first full-length movie, a romantic comedy called Joni's Promise, in 2005. He has directed many different types of movies since then. These include the mystery film Dead Time: Kala (2007) and the scary The Forbidden Door (2009). He also made the very popular horror movies Satan's Slaves (2017) and its sequel Satan's Slaves 2: Communion (2022). He even directed a superhero movie called Gundala (2019). In 2024, his TV show Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams came out on Netflix.

Joko Anwar has won 3 Citra Awards, which are like Indonesia's Oscars. He won Best Director twice. The first time was in 2015 for A Copy of My Mind. The second time was in 2020 for the horror film Impetigore. He also won Best Screenplay in 2008 for co-writing Fiksi.. His movies Satan's Slaves 2: Communion and Satan's Slaves are among the highest-grossing Indonesian films ever.

As an actor, Joko Anwar has appeared in several films. He had a main role in Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly. In 2019, Indonesia Tatler magazine named him one of the most important film directors in modern Indonesian cinema.

Early Life

Joko Anwar was born in Medan, North Sumatera. He grew up watching many kung fu and horror films. He went to a public high school and spent a year in the United States as an exchange student. He loved writing and directing plays when he was a student.

Even though he wanted to study filmmaking, his family could not afford a film school. So, he went to the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) to study Aeronautical Engineering. After he graduated in 1999, he became a journalist and film critic for The Jakarta Post.

Joko Anwar's first experience in film production was in 2002. He worked as an assistant director for the movie Biola Tak Berdawai.

Career Highlights

First Steps and Big Success (2003–2008)

Joko Anwar met director Nia Dinata while interviewing her for The Jakarta Post. She was impressed by him and asked him to join her new project. They worked together to write the movie Arisan!, which was released in 2003. This film was a huge success. It won many awards, including Best Film at the 2004 Citra Award.

In 2005, Joko Anwar directed his first movie, the romantic comedy Joni's Promise. It starred famous actors like Nicholas Saputra. The movie was a box office hit. It was nominated for 9 awards at the 2005 Citra Award. This film made Joko Anwar very well-known.

In 2007, he wrote and directed Dead Time: Kala. This was Indonesia's first film noir movie, a type of dark crime film. Critics loved it. Sight & Sound magazine called it one of the best films of the year. It also won an award at the New York Asian Film Festival. In the same year, he wrote the script for Jakarta Undercover.

In 2008, Joko Anwar helped write the script for the psychological thriller fiksi.. This film was also a big success. It won 4 awards at the 2008 Citra Award, including Best Screenplay for Joko Anwar. This was his first Citra Award.

International Recognition (2009–2016)

Joko Anwar continued with psychological thrillers in his next film, The Forbidden Door, released in 2009. This movie gained attention from filmmakers around the world. TIME magazine praised the film. It was shown at many international film festivals. These included the London Film Festival and the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

His next movie was the horror-thriller Modus Anomali, released in 2012. It was shown at the South by Southwest festival in the US. Critics gave it good reviews. It was even released in cinemas in France and North America.

In 2015, Joko Anwar released his fifth movie, A Copy of My Mind. This urban drama was filmed in only 8 days. It was the only film from Southeast Asia shown at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. At the 2015 Citra Award, Joko Anwar won Best Director for this film.

Horror Hits and Superhero Films (2017–Present)

In 2017, Joko Anwar directed his first supernatural horror movie, Satan's Slaves. This film was a remake of an old Indonesian horror classic. It became the highest-grossing Indonesian film of 2017. It also did very well in other countries like Malaysia. The film won 7 awards at the 37th Citra Awards.

In 2018, it was announced that Joko Anwar would direct Gundala. This was a live-action movie based on a popular Indonesian comic book superhero. The film came out in 2019. It started a new superhero movie series called the BumiLangit Cinematic Universe. Gundala was also shown at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

In October 2019, Joko Anwar released his eighth movie, the folk horror Impetigore. This film was a big success with both critics and audiences. At the 2020 Citra Award, Joko Anwar won his second Citra Award for Best Director for Impetigore. The film was also chosen to represent Indonesia at the 2021 Academy Awards.

After Gundala, Joko Anwar became an executive producer for other superhero films in the BumiLangit Cinematic Universe. In 2022, he released the sequel to his hit horror film, Satan's Slaves 2: Communion. This movie was also very popular. It became the third highest-grossing Indonesian film of all time. In 2024, his new science fiction and horror TV series, Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams, was released on Netflix.

Personal Life

Joko Anwar likes to connect with his fans online. He is very active on social media, especially Twitter. As of January 2021, he had 1.7 million followers on Twitter.

Filmography

Feature films

Acting credits

Awards and Nominations