This study deals with Indonesian cinema. The political and cultural perspectives were used to
provide an understanding of the development of Indonesian cinema from the early period untill recent
times. This study argues that principally Indonesian cinema can be associated significantly with politics,
primarily in the 1950s and 1960s when Indonesian cinema started to grow. In the period of the New
Order regime, Indonesian cinema became a manifestation of kitsch pursuing for capital gain. Yet after the
fall of the regime significant shifts occur namely no longer have Indonesian cinemas strongly related to
politics in their content of messages but the cinemas promote much moore various discoursive contents.
Keywords: cinema, politics, culture, discoursive content, indie film
