Garin Nugroho

Filmmaker

Garin Nugroho is one of the era’s most important Southeast Asian filmmakers, having negotiated the complexities of his nation through the language of film and working across a variety of disciplines, from film to the stage, installation works, painting and writing.

Nugroho received the cultural ambassador award from the Sultan Jogjakarta, the Indonesian President Habibie culture award, the French honorary decoration of Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Stella D’atelerie Cavalerie award from the Italian government (Stella D’Italia Cavaliere), the Honorary Citizen of Singapore Award, and the Cultural Diversity Award from Asia Pacific Screen Awards patron UNESCO.

Nugroho has received international acclaim and screened widely at festivals including Cannes, Venice and Berlin Film Festival. His latest film Memories of My Body, based on the life story of dancer Rianto, premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival in 2018 and won several awards including Best Film at the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane. His stage works tour major venues and festivals throughout Europe and the Asia Pacific, and he has held numerous exhibitions including large scale installation works for the Louis Vuitton Gallery, Paris, Haus der Kunst, Munich and National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta.

He is the founder of JAFF (Jogya Asia Netpac Film Festival), now in its 15th year, the LA Indie Movie short film workshop and festival, and the Ruang Kreatif platform for young Indonesian performance makers. He has served as a jury member at La Biennale di Venezia – Orizzonti, Busan International Film Festival, Tokyo Film Festival, Dubai Film Festival and Kolkata International Film Festival, and he works closely with major international NGOs designing disaster relief and reconstruction strategies. Nugroho has also published a series of non-fiction books and contributes a regular column to Indonesia’s largest newspaper, KOMPAS.

Nugroho’s work balances a powerful relationship between the screen, storytelling, social commentary and philosophy. His immense knowledge of the rich cultural traditions of Indonesia is combined with acute contemporary storytelling and close partnerships with Indonesia’s leading choreographers, dancers, composers, visual artists and intellectuals.