Celebrity Measurements

Netflix revealed that more than 80 films from Asia-Pacific were featured on its weekly global non-English movie list for 2022. More than 90 countries also featured features from the region on the weekly top 10.

Richi Takahashi, manager of content for Netflix Japan, presented a trailer for the zombie action comedy

Zom: 100 Bucket List of the Movies. Titles from India, Indonesia and Korea were among those to claim the number one spot on the list last year.

These included Korean one-take action film Carter, which led the chart for several weeks in August following its release; Indonesian director Timo Tjahjanto’s action film The Big 4, which became Netflix’s most-watched non-English film in December; and Indian Oscar-winner RRR, which was number one for three weeks in May and June, as well as Indian psychological comedy horror Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.

Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh, director of content for Netflix India, noted the global streamer maintained an emphasis on staying authentic and faithful to local audiences first and allowing directors more freedom to be creative.

“Even though a lot of our local titles travel globally, our focus is always local to local, and always for local audiences,” she said, pointing out this has been key to storytelling in India, which has shown “the highest viewing of films on Netflix globally”.

Local creators at the showcase of upcoming content included Thai director Sitisiri Mongkolsiri (Inhuman Kiss), whose upcoming suspense film Hunger is billed as “The Menu meets Whiplash“.

Although he initially had doubts about Netflix entering the Thai market, the filmmaker said: “In the last three to four years, we have seen that Netflix has truly helped those in the industry, especially through their best practices in production, so that we have enough budget and time to complete a high-quality film.”

Shinichi Takahashi, manager of content for Netflix Japan, introduced a trailer for zombie action comedy Zom: 100 Bucket List of the Dead. “Sometimes, creators are limited because of the environment. We want to remove this limit, so that the creators can maximize their imagination,” he said.

Upcoming films from Netflix APAC include recent Berlinale premiere Kill Boksoon, a Korean assassin action film starring Jeon Do-yeon, and Australian psychological horror Run Rabbit Run, which premiered at Sundance.

Run Rabbit Run director Anna McLeish noted Netflix’s global reach was an offset, despite the OTT release meaning the film would not receive a theatrical release. She said that it takes an average of 18 months for independent films to reach the world through film festivals. “With Netflix, you can get the film out to audiences in more than 190 countries pretty much simultaneously.” “With Netflix, you can get the film out to audiences in more than 190 countries pretty much simultaneously.”

Tjahjanto agreed that the reach and immediate intel provided by the streaming giant has been helpful. He said that films previously distributed in cinemas overseas don’t show how well they do. “With Netflix, I can see in real time how the film is working out in South Africa, Argentina or Thailand.”

Earlier this month, it was forecast that Netflix would spend $1.9bn on local content in APAC this year as group revenue from the region grew to 12%, according to a report by Media Partners Asia. This is a 15% increase in content investment spending.

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