Indonesia to Host 2025 Santri Film Festival Celebrating Islamic and Cultural Creativity

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ministry of Culture will jointly organize the 2025 Santri Film Festival (SANFFEST), a national event highlighting Islamic and cultural creativity under the theme “Santri Viewing the World Through the Lens of Culture.”

The festival aims to provide a platform for students from Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) to express religious and social values through short films, reinforcing the role of pesantren as dynamic cultural and educational institutions.

“The santri cinema movement represents a cultural revival rooted in Islamic values and local wisdom. We aim to position pesantren as active contributors to Indonesia’s national film industry,” said Fadhli Sapawie, Festival Director of SANFFEST 2025, in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The inter-ministerial initiative reflects the government’s effort to strengthen synergy between religious education and the creative economy. The Ministry of Religious Affairs, through its Directorate of Pesantren, will facilitate networking among pesantren and support the development of young filmmakers within these institutions.

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Basnang Said, Director of Pesantren at MORA, said pesantren are increasingly open to creative collaboration without losing their spiritual foundation.

“Film serves as an effective medium for cultural da’wah in the digital era. Through SANFFEST, santri can translate Islamic and humanitarian values into a universal visual language,” he stated.

The festival will open with a Ta’aruf Film Forum, featuring prominent Indonesian filmmakers and writers such as Habiburrahman El Shirazy, Deddy Mizwar, Asma Nadia, and Ustadz Erick Yusuf. A series of national online workshops will follow from October 25 to November 9, 2025, covering screenwriting, directing, and film editing.

Film submissions will be accepted from November 10–29, 2025, via sanffest.com. The Awarding Night is scheduled for December 14, 2025, recognizing outstanding short films and strengthening the growing network of santri filmmakers nationwide.[]

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)