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 actor. Before he became a filmmaker, he worked as a journalist and film critic.

Anwar first became well-known for helping write Arisan! in 2003. This movie won five awards in 2004. He then directed his first full-length movie, the romantic comedy Joni's Promise, in 2005. He was even nominated for Best Director for it. Since then, he has directed many different types of movies. These include the thriller Dead Time: Kala (2007), the scary The Forbidden Door (2009), and the supernatural horror films Satan's Slaves (2017) and its sequel Satan's Slaves 2: Communion (2022). He also directed the superhero movie Gundala (2019). In 2024, his TV series Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams was released on Netflix.

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

Anwar has also acted in many movies. In 2019, he was named one of the most important film directors in modern Indonesian cinema.

Early Life and Education

Anwar was born in Medan, North Sumatra. He grew up watching kung fu and horror films. He went to high school in Medan and spent a year in the United States as an exchange student. He wrote and directed plays when he was a student.

Even though he wanted to study filmmaking, his family could not afford film school. So, he studied Aeronautical Engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). After graduating in 1999, he became a journalist and film critic for The Jakarta Post. His first experience helping make a film was in 2002 as an assistant director.

Film Career

Starting Out (2003–2008)

Anwar met filmmaker Nia Dinata while interviewing her for The Jakarta Post. She was impressed by him and asked him to work on a project. They co-wrote the movie Arisan!, which came out in 2003. This film was a big success and won many awards. Anwar and Dinata were also nominated for Best Screenplay.

In 2005, Anwar directed his first movie, the romantic comedy Joni's Promise. It starred many famous actors and was a box office hit. The film helped Anwar become well-known. It also brought back the career of Barry Prima, a martial artist and actor who was Anwar's childhood hero.

In 2007, Joko Anwar wrote and directed Dead Time: Kala. This was Indonesia's first film noir movie, a type of dark and mysterious thriller. Critics loved it, and Sight & Sound magazine called it one of the best films of the year. The movie was shown at many film festivals and won an award at the New York Asian Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter praised it as a clever mystery. In the same year, Anwar also wrote screenplays for two other movies.

In 2008, Anwar co-wrote the psychological thriller Fiksi.. This movie was a huge success and received great reviews. It won 4 awards at the 2008 Citra Awards, including Best Screenplay for Anwar. This was his first Citra Award.

Gaining International Attention (2009–2016)

Anwar continued with psychological thrillers in his next film, The Forbidden Door, released in 2009. This movie starred Fachri Albar and Marsha Timothy as a married couple with dark secrets. The film received a lot of attention from international film critics. TIME magazine's film critic Richard Corliss said the movie was an example of what films could be if they were more daring. Maggie Lee of The Hollywood Reporter said it would make Alfred Hitchcock and Pedro Almodóvar proud. The film was shown at several international film festivals and won an award in South Korea.

Anwar's next film was the horror-thriller Modus Anomali, which came out in 2012. It starred Rio Dewanto as a man trying to save his family from a killer. The film was shown at the South by Southwest festival and received good reviews. It was released in France and North America under the title Ritual.

In 2015, Anwar released his fifth movie, the drama A Copy of My Mind. It starred Chicco Jerikho and Tara Basro. The film was made in just 8 days. It was the only film from Southeast Asia shown at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. At the 2015 Citra Awards, Anwar won Best Director for the first time.

Big Successes (2017–Present)

In 2017, Anwar released his first supernatural horror film, Satan's Slaves. This movie was a remake of a classic 1980 Indonesian horror film. Satan's Slaves became the highest-grossing Indonesian film of 2017. It was also the highest-grossing horror film ever in Indonesia, with 4.2 million tickets sold. It did very well in other countries too, like Malaysia. The film won 7 awards at the 37th Citra Awards.

In 2018, it was announced that Anwar would direct a live-action movie about the Indonesian comic book superhero Gundala. The film was released in Indonesia in August 2019. It started the BumiLangit Cinematic Universe, a series of superhero movies. Gundala was also shown at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. It won 3 awards at the 2019 Citra Awards.

In October 2019, Anwar released his eighth movie, the folk horror film Impetigore. This movie was a big hit with both critics and audiences. At the 2020 Citra Awards, Anwar won his second Best Director award for Impetigore. The film received 17 nominations, which was a new record. Impetigore was also shown at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews. In November 2020, Impetigore was chosen as Indonesia's official entry for the 2021 Academy Awards.

After Gundala, Anwar became an executive producer for other films in the BumiLangit Cinematic Universe. These include Sri Asih and Patriot Taruna: Virgo and the Sparklings. He helps oversee the creative side of these films.

In June 2022, Anwar released the trailer for Satan's Slaves 2: Communion, the sequel to his 2017 hit. This movie was released in August 2022 and quickly became a huge success. It sold over one million tickets in just two days. It is currently the third highest-grossing Indonesian film of all time, with 6.3 million tickets sold. In September 2022, Netflix announced that Anwar would direct a 7-episode science-fiction thriller series called Nightmares and Daydreams. This series, Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams, was released in 2024.

Personal Life

Joko Anwar often talks with his fans on social media, especially Twitter. He is known for his fun interactions.

Frequent Collaborators

Anwar often works with the same actors and actresses in his films. Arswendy Bening Swara has appeared in six of his movies. Tara Basro has been in five of his films as a main character, from A Copy of My Mind in 2015 to Satan's Slaves 2: Communion in 2022.

Actors	Joni's Promise	Dead Time: Kala	The Forbidden Door	Ritual	A Copy of My Mind	Satan's Slaves	Gundala	Impetigore	Satan's Slaves 2: Communion	Grave Torture	The Siege at Thorn High	Total
Ario Bayu		Y	Y		Y		Y	Y				5
Asmara Abigail						Y	Y	Y	Y			4
Arswendy Nasution		Y	Y			Y	Y	Y		Y		6
Bront Palarae						Y	Y		Y			3
Egy Fedly						Y			Y	Y		3
Endy Arfian						Y			Y		Y	3
Fachri Albar		Y	Y			Y			Y	Y		5
Kiki Narendra								Y	Y		Y	3
Muzakki Ramdhan							Y		Y	Y		3
Rio Dewanto			Y	Y			Y					3
Sujiwo Tejo	Y	Y					Y					3
Tara Basro					Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			5

Awards and Nominations