The Land of Jinn premiered at the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market as the inaugural film co-production between Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan. Kevin Rahardjo directed the production, which features a screenplay written by Makbul Mubarak and Tumpal Tampubolon.
Rahardjo said, "I’ve always been fascinated by the lengths someone might go to in pursuit of what society tells us is a ‘complete’ life, and what drew me to this project was the chance to translate that desire into the language of horror." Filming took place in Jakarta and the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan for a story told in English, Indonesian, and Kyrgyz.
The project is currently in post-production and is being produced by Yulia Evina Bhara and Amerta Kusuma for Jakarta-based KawanKawan Media. Sultan Pirzhan and Elvira Sarieva of FreeMinds, alongside Maksat Bolotbek of Bairak Group, manage the Kyrgyz side of production.
Bhara noted that while fear is universal, ghosts are local, adding, "In Indonesia we have 17,000 islands and 17,000 ghosts. In Kyrgyzstan, the mountains and steppes have their own Jinns." Indonesia holds a 65% local market share for the horror genre, providing a significant backdrop for the collaboration.
Sarieva described the project as an "incredible start to what will hopefully be a long lasting creative collaboration between Indonesian and Kyrgyz filmmakers." Nazira C. Noer serves as a producer and delegate for the project while holding roles as CEO and co-founder of Poplicist, chief marketing officer of Navvaros Entertainment, and secretary general of the Indonesian Film Agency.
Producers are looking for partners to handle distribution and close the film's financing gap. The Tokyo Gap-Financing Market operates as part of TIFFCOM, which is the content market for the Tokyo International Film Festival.
