Eight Directors, Five Countries, Four Films: Inside KawanKawan Media’s ‘Next Step Studio Indonesia’ at Cannes

May 14, 2026 10:01am PT Eight Directors, Five Countries, Four Films: Inside KawanKawan Media’s ‘Next Step Studio Indonesia’ at Cannes

By Naman Ramachandran

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Naman Ramachandran

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There is a moment, somewhere between exchanging favorite films and confronting each other’s psyche, where two strangers from different countries have to decide whether they can actually make something together. For the eight directors at the center of “Next Step Studio Indonesia 2026,” that moment arrived last year in Jakarta. The result, screening in Cannes’ Critics’ Week, will be visible to the world: four short films, each co-written and co-directed by one Indonesian filmmaker and one counterpart from elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

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