If you've ever felt disappointed by the lack of choice at your local multiplex, spare a thought for the cinemagoers of Indonesia, where it is currently next to impossible to catch movies from major Hollywood studios on the big screen.
Indonesians look likely to miss out on blockbusters such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two, Cars 2 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon this summer, all of which are caught up in a standoff between studios and local authorities over a new levy on imported movies. The tax was ostensibly introduced in an effort to protect Indonesian film-makers from Hollywood competition, but its introduction appears to have backfired after Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Walt Disney Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal Pictures withdrew all their programming from the country, which boasts a population of more than 237 million.
The standoff began four months ago and has been compounded by a government ban on Indonesia's largest film distributors bringing in new Hollywood movies pending payment of more than $30m in unpaid taxes and related penalties. The ruling is being challenged in court.
"Until I see actual (Hollywood) movies running in the cinemas, I won't get my hopes up just yet," Marvel Sutantio, creator of the blog Indonesian Movie Crisis, told the Associated Press. The site blames "greedy" tax and customs officials for the dearth of new releases.
The Hollywood blackout has severely hit takings at cinemas, where box office turnover is down 60 to 70 per cent since February. Lesser known US films such as Scream 4, Beastly and Limitless are still available, along with local Indonesian fare, but much of the latter is characterised by low production values and thematic limitations. Moviegoers often complain about a steady stream of B-movies light on character and plot development and heavy on cheap scares and frequent sex scenes. The standoff has inevitably proved a boon for Indonesia's thriving black market DVD industry, with filmgoers increasingly turning to vendors of pirated films in Jakarta's Chinatown to get their latest fix of the latest Hollywood fare.
Ministers are promising revised rules which they say will end the blackout, as well as new legislation allowing Hollywood studios to distribute their own films, rather than going via local firms. Both are unlikely to be introduced before the end of the summer, however, leaving film buffs frustrated with the lack of choice and quality. "We're going to miss the whole summer this year for sure with the way it's going," Ananda Siregar, owner and CEO of Blitzmegaplex, the second largest cinema chain in Indonesia, told AP.
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