The 21st Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) will open with a Filipino thriller set in one of Manila’s most challenging neighbourhoods and conclude with a Japanese comedy-drama that has earned recognition on the international festival circuit. Lawrence Fajardo’s Silenced Nights has been selected as the opening film, while Makoto Ueda’s You Are the Film will close the event, scheduled to run from November 28 to December 5 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Under the theme Influx, the 21st edition will present 254 films from 34 countries across eight days, bringing a diverse selection of Asian and international cinema to audiences.
Silenced Nights is set in Happyland, an area of Tondo in Manila, and was filmed on location in the neighbourhood. The thriller takes on a tense sociopolitical subject, placing its narrative within a community frequently associated with poverty and difficult living conditions. Rather than treating the location merely as a backdrop, the film grounds its story in the area’s social reality, making the setting an important part of its perspective. Its selection as the festival opener places a socially grounded Filipino production at the forefront of this year’s programme.
Directed by Lawrence Fajardo, Silenced Nights also arrives in Yogyakarta following a notable international festival achievement. It became the first Filipino film selected for the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) juried Platform section in 2026. The programme is known for highlighting distinctive directorial voices and ambitious filmmaking, making the selection an important moment for Filipino cinema. Its screening at JAFF will mark the film’s Indonesian premiere, giving local audiences their first opportunity to watch a title that has already attracted attention at a major international festival.
The closing selection offers a contrasting cinematic experience. Makoto Ueda’s You Are the Film is a Japanese comedy-drama that brings a lighter and more inventive tone to the festival’s final screening. The film arrives with two major honours from the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, where it received both the White Raven Award and the Audience Award in 2026. The recognition gives the closing-night selection an international profile of its own. Its choice alongside Silenced Nights also establishes a contrast between two films approaching storytelling from different perspectives and genres.
The pairing reflects the broader idea behind this year’s festival theme, Influx. JAFF describes the theme as an exploration of how changing currents shape people’s lives and influence the ways they understand one another. Festival president Budi Irawanto has emphasised cinema’s ability to help audiences listen to experiences beyond their own and consider issues from different perspectives. The selection of 254 films from 34 countries provides a broad context for this idea, bringing together different cultures, stories and filmmaking approaches within a single festival programme.
The 2026 edition will also introduce the first JAFF Awards, an annual initiative designed to recognise the individuals, communities, institutions and practices contributing to the development of Asian cinema. The awards will extend recognition beyond the films themselves to acknowledge the wider ecosystem that supports the industry and its cultural heritage. This includes work in preservation and archiving, along with collective efforts that help sustain cinema and its history over time. The inaugural edition establishes a new strand of recognition within the festival, placing greater attention on the people and institutions whose contributions are essential to the growth of Asian cinema.
Audiences will also have an opportunity to participate in the festival through the newly introduced Amar Bank Audience Choice Award. The initiative will allow viewers to vote for their favourite short film, giving audience response a place within the festival’s awards programme. By bringing short-form filmmaking into this initiative, JAFF is also creating a platform for audiences to engage more directly with emerging and diverse cinematic voices.
Music will return as another important part of the festival experience through the Cinematic Concert. Indonesian indie-pop band Grrrl Gang will perform live while five short films are screened alongside the music, bringing the two art forms together in a shared event. The programme offers an alternative to conventional theatrical screenings, allowing audiences to experience cinema through a combination of live performance and moving images. It also adds another dimension to the festival’s wider programme of screenings and events.
The selection of Silenced Nights as the opening film on November 28 and You Are the Film as the closing title on December 5 gives JAFF 2026 two distinct cinematic starting and finishing points. Around these selections, the festival will bring together 254 films from 34 countries, introduce its first annual awards and offer additional events that extend beyond traditional screenings. Through its theme of Influx, the festival places the diversity of Asian cinema at the centre of its programme while recognising the filmmakers, institutions and audiences who contribute to its continued growth.
