Indonesia & the Horror That Hits Too Close to Home - Joko Anwar

Description

Indonesia’s horror king Joko Anwar (Pengabdi Setan, Gundala, Netflix’s Nightmares and Daydreams) sat with Andovi and Abigail to talk about his boldest film yet: Pengepungan di Bukit Duri (The Siege at Thorn Hill). He first wrote the script back in 2008, but it was “too dark” to make. Fast forward to 2025, turns out reality caught up, and the story feels more relevant than ever. In this episode, Joko gets real about the themes behind the film, the process of finally bringing it to life, and why horror isn’t just ghosts, it’s the everyday violence we’ve normalized. We also talk about Indonesia’s current political climate, his next film projects, and yes, he reacts to some spicy memes with us too. ------------------ What is up, Indonesia? (WIUI) is an independent media that curates Indonesian socio-politics in an accessible manner for internationally-raised Indonesian youths. This podcast is hosted by Andovi da Lopez & Abigail Limuria Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatisupindonesia/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wiuindonesia Tiktok: https://tiktok.com/@whatisupindonesia Website: https://whatisupindonesia.com/ JOIN OUR WIUI COMMUNITY Discord: https://discord.com/invite/EtBnwSt Connect with Andovi da Lopez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andovidalopez/ Twitter: https://x.com/AndovidaLopez Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andovishow Connect with Abigail Limuria Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abigailimuria/ Twitter: https://x.com/abigailimuriaa Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@abigailimuria