EXCLUSIVE: A Southeast Asian war epic from director Angga Dwimas Sasongko is in the works at Indonesia‘s Visinema.
Perang Jawa (The Java War) is being billed as Jumbo producer Visinema’s “most ambitious” feature to date, with company founder Sasongko producing and directing and Gita Wirjawan executive producing. Taufan Adryan is the producer and development is underway ahead of a planned 2027 release date.
Pic will tell the story of the five-year war the Javanese Prince Diponegoro fought against Dutch colonial rule between 1825 and 1830, which claimed the lives of more than an estimated 200,000 people and pushed the Dutch colony to the brink of collapse. The announcement comes just a day after the 200th anniversary of the consequential conflict’s beginning on July 20, 1825.
Citra Award winner Ifan Ismail wrote the script, working closely with leading Diponegoro scholar Peter Carey, who authored ‘The Power of Prophecy: Prince Dipanagara and the End of an Old Order in Java, 1785–1855’. Diponegoro’s fight became an inspiration to Indonesians and their resistance to Dutch rule. Indonesia was officially recognized in 1949.
For Visinema, the film comes after the breakout success of its animated kids film Jumbo, which we featured earlier this year as the Ryan Adriandhy pic became Southeast Asia’s biggest-grossing animation of all time at the box office and, as of June 1, the highest-grossing Indonesian film ever.
Tonally, Perang Jawa is a step change, with the creative team working to create “a regionally rooted, globally resonant cinematic experience, one that introduces the legacy of Southeast Asia’s resistance, mythology, and moral reckoning to international audiences.”
“With Perang Jawa, we’re building something we’ve never attempted before, a war epic rooted in Southeast Asia, crafted with the scale and cinematic intensity of global epics,” said director Sasongko. “This is about world-building, visual storytelling, and creating a visceral experience. We want audiences to feel the weight of this war, the atmosphere, the chaos, and the spiritual stakes, all through a distinctly Southeast Asian lens.”
“Diponegoro didn’t fight for a throne or territory,” added Wirjawan. “Instead, he fought for respect, identity, faith, heritage and sovereignty which make this story timeless. His legacy is one of the most powerful underrepresented, and underrated in the region. Cinema gives us the scale, emotion, and language to bring it to life — not just for Indonesia, but for the region and the world.”
Announcements on casting, co-production partners and international distribution will follow “in due course,” according to Visinema.
“Southeast Asia has a rich tradition of powerful cinema, from historical epics to deeply personal stories. With Perang Jawa, we hope to contribute something new: a regional war epic that brings our values, history, and spirit to the screen in a way that can also resonate with global audiences,” said Sasongko.
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