The Indonesian Film Festival is an annual awards ceremony organised by the Indonesian Film Board to celebrate cinematic achievements in the Indonesian film industry. During the festival, the Piala Citra winners are announced and the best Indonesian films of the year are presented. The awards ceremony was first held in 1955 as the Pekan Apresiasi Film Nasional. It changed to Festival Film Indonesia in 1973. In 1986, the festival included awards for television movies with an award called Piala Vidia. This awards ceremony includes numerous similarities when compared to the Academy Awards in the United States.
History
In 1955, 1960 and 1967 Pekan Apresiasi Film Nasional was held in Jakarta. From 1973–1992 the ceremony was renamed Festival Film Indonesia and became an annual event. The trophy/award was named Piala Citra. The All-Indonesia Cinema Owners' Association awarded the Antemas Prize, named for the producer Antemas. From 1993–2003 the festival did not take place, because the quantity of good Indonesian movies had dropped significantly. In the 1990s, most Indonesian movie producers created low budget, B movies. Producers suffered revenue losses because of growing piracy. Since 1992, American, Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies took over many theaters. Low budget Indonesian movies get the dregs, such as open theatre cinemas, portable cinemas, direct to video, or on TV. In 2004 the Indonesian Film Festival committee launched and returned the event to an annual affair. In 2014 the Indonesian Film Board was formed and FFI changed the award statuette. In 2017 the Indonesian Film Board added two more awards for unique and creative films, raising the total to 21. In 2018 awards were given in 23 categories.
Citra Awards
Citra Awards are accolades by the Committee to recognize excellence of professionals in the Indonesian film industry, including directors, actors and writers. In 2009, the Indonesian Film Festival Committee replaced the National Body of Motion Picture as the official event organizer of the Indonesian Film Festival. The Committee was authorized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Indonesia to organize the operational process of Citra Awards' ceremony and the selection of nominations and winners. In 2014, the Indonesian Film Board replaced the Indonesian Film Festival Committee as the festival organizer. The festival is audited by Deloitte. The Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia oversees the organizer. The Citra Award, often mistakenly called the FFI Award, is the title of the event where the Citra Award and Vidia Award winners are announced.
Vidia Awards recognize excellence in the Indonesian television movie industry, including directors, actors and writers. Vidia Awards were first presented in 1986 and awarded in one event with Citra Awards. From 1992 until 1998, the award was presented separately in an event called Festival Sinetron Indonesia. The awards were discontinued from 1998 to 2003. The awards returned between 2004 and 2006, then discontinued between 2007 and 2010, and made its return in 2011.
