Laskar Pelangi

• Laskar Pelangi is adapted from the novel of the same name by Andrea Hirata.
• The film became a box office and critical success, becoming one of the highest-grossing in Indonesian box office history and the recipient of a number of local and international awards.
• The film reportedly cost 8 billion rupiah (US$890,000; ~ US$1,000,000 in 2017 accounting for inflation) to make and was a year in production. Most of the child actors in the film are from Belitung, and Producer Mira Lesmana explained that choice by saying: “In my opinion, there won’t be any actors with a deeper connection to the roles than those who were born and lived in Belitong their entire life.”
• The Bangka Belitung provincial government declared some of the locations used in the film as areas of importance to culture and tourism in 2010, and provincial tourism chief Yan Megawandi said the decision was “primarily” made to help raise funds for the Muhammadiyah elementary school on which the film and novel’s story are centered.
• The film’s local and international success fueled a tourism boom on Belitung, with Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia reopening direct service from Jakarta to Tanjung Pandan, Belitung’s capital. A provincial government official that month said he had no hard data on the increase in tourist arrivals as a result of the film, but said that nearly all seats on flights to the island from Jakarta were booked in the first week it was open and that most arrivals were asking about information on how to visit the film’s locations.
• A Belitung-based local newspaper Pos Belitung refers the movie title on its motto, “Spirit Baru Negeri Laskar Pelangi” (New Spirit of the Land of Rainbow Troops).
• Laskar Pelangi was theatrically released on September 25, 2008.

Awards

• Best Film, Bandung Film Festival, 2009
• Best Film, Indonesian Film Festival, 2009
• Nomination for Best Film and Best Editor, Asian Film Awards, 2009
• SIGNIS Award, Hong Kong International Film Festival, 2009
• Golden Butterfly Award, 23rd International Festival of Film for Children and Young Adults, Iran, 2009
• 3rd Place Audience Award, 11th Udine Far East International Film Festival, Italy, 2009