Balinale, Bali’s premier Oscar-qualifying festival, begins its 19th edition with Julian Rosefeldt’s Euphoria and wraps with Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End, framing a program built to showcase world cinema on the island. The festival also debut a new competitive track focused on local storytelling: Best Indonesian Short, a dedicated platform for Indonesia’s short-form voices.
The lineup features 94 films drawn from 38 countries, underscoring Balinale’s international reach. In the narrative feature competition, four titles stand out: Mon Ami by Mohamed Zran, a Tunisian drama; Aisha Can’t Fly Away from Morad Mostafa; Death Drive by Park Eolgul from South Korea; and Sound of Falling, directed by Mascha Schilinski (Germany).
Beyond features, the festival’s documentary slate includes works such as Divia by Dmytro Hreshko, The Madness of Moonlight by Leigh-Ann Beverley, and Spanish entries The Rain Won’t Let Us Fly and The Designer Is Dead. The short programs span eight narrative shorts, several documentaries, and animated works, with the Best Short Film prize offering Academy Award qualification.
Balinale runs June 1–7 in Sanur, pairing the main program with the Bali Film Forum and the Cinema by the Sea community strand. Indonesian industry voices join an international jury featuring filmmakers, critics, and festival professionals from around the world.
Read more about Balinale’s 19th edition and its diverse slate as it cements its role in Southeast Asia’s festival calendar.
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