Entertainment

Indonesian soccer drama Forza finds an international seller before its Tokyo showing

Jonah VillalbaPublished 17m ago2 min readBased on 8 sources
Indonesian soccer drama Forza finds an international seller before its Tokyo showing
Photo by Leuchtturm Entertainment on Unsplash

EST N8 has picked up international sales rights to Forza, a soccer drama shot between Bali and Milan, Variety reported on Sunday. International sales means the company will look for buyers in countries outside Indonesia.

The company plans to take the film to TIFFCOM, the industry market that runs alongside the Tokyo International Film Festival, from October 28 to 30. The 39th Tokyo festival opens on October 26 and runs for 10 days, to November 4. Markets like TIFFCOM are where sales companies meet buyers from around the world, so a film's future abroad is often shaped in rooms like these.

The story follows Bima, an 11-year-old from Bali who hopes a career as a professional footballer will give his family a better life. Newcomer Ghazi Alhabsyi leads the cast. The film also features Tara Sibel Demren, AC Milan icon Alessandro Costacurta, Atiqah Hasiholan, Oka Antara and Tio Pakusadewo, and Marco Balsamo, who also directs.

Balsamo wrote the script and produced it with Demren. The two set up Riva Studios in 2022 as an independent company working in live action, animation and music. Riva bought the French animation house TeamTO in 2024, and Forza is its first live-action feature. Producers on the project include Ario Sagantoro, whose credits include the The Raid films.

Sophie Shi and Jan Paul Villanueva negotiated the sales deal for EST N8. Balsamo and Demren represented Riva Studios. Adhya Pictures holds the Indonesian theatrical release, scheduled for 2027.

The film had its first public screening on Sunday, October 25, at Jakarta Film Week, held at CGV Grand Indonesia. Both rounds of online tickets for that screening sold out within five minutes.

For the people who made it, the next stretch is about finding audiences far from Jakarta. A sale to a foreign buyer means a cinema or streaming service in another country may eventually show the film, though no other territories have been named so far. The Tokyo market will be the first real test of that interest.

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