What it had to solve
With infections managed, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy wanted the first campaign to begin reopening Indonesian tourism, aimed at domestic travellers under the #DiIndonesiaAja direction, in the middle of the pandemic — while signalling cleanliness, health, safety and social distancing.
The idea
Freeze an entire country mid-action — dancers, craftspeople, animals held still by rigging and wires — so the film itself becomes Indonesia, paused and waiting.
How it works
Director Sim F shot across Bali, Banyuwangi, Yogyakarta and Bintan over three weeks under strict COVID protocols, directing talent to hold still mid-action and rigging props with blue boxes and wires that were removed in post; the camera pans through the frozen scenes creating a 3D effect, with CG animals and birds. The film showcases wildlife, cultural heritage, cuisine, craft, hidden gems and hospitality, and runs across digital and social channels with the #DiIndonesiaAja hashtag.
What it did
The first film the ministry launched to begin reopening tourism, carrying the #DiIndonesiaAja and #wonderfulindonesia messages across digital and social. It aimed to create nostalgic yearning for domestic trips; the source reports no viewership or booking figures.
Background
In March 2021, Indonesia's tourism industry — 13 million livelihoods — was in suspended animation. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy answered with the first campaign aimed at reopening: a Wonderful Indonesia film encouraging domestic travellers to explore 'the country that has been waiting to be rediscovered', under the #DiIndonesiaAja banner.
Director Sim F's treatment made the pause literal. Across four locations — Bali, Banyuwangi, Yogyakarta and Bintan, shot over three weeks under strict COVID protocols — talent were directed to hold still mid-action while props were frozen in place with blue boxes and wires, later removed in post-production. The camera pans through the motionless scenes, creating a 3D effect in which the whole country appears held mid-breath; CG brought animals and birds into the tableaux.
The frozen world is not empty but full: wildlife and biodiversity, cultural heritage, cuisine, craft and handiwork, hidden gems, generations-old oral history and Indonesian hospitality, alongside messages of cleanliness, health, safety and social distancing. Ministry director Martini Paham framed the goal as nostalgia strong enough to make Indonesians choose home over foreign destinations 'once we return to normalcy'; M&C Saatchi Indonesia CEO Anish Daryani called it a way to keep the brand alive and give the people living off tourism hope.
Why it lands
A frozen frame is the pandemic stated visually — the technique and the situation are the same image, so the metaphor needs no explanation.
Freezing mid-action turns the usual tourism montage into anticipation: every frozen dancer and wave promises motion to come.
Shooting domestically under COVID protocols made the film itself a demonstration of the safe-travel message it carries.
Targeting domestic travellers first matched the ministry's reopening sequence — rebuild local demand before international returns.
What you can take
When your product is unavailable, make the absence itself the image: a country frozen mid-celebration says 'waiting for you' more urgently than any montage of open attractions could.
Since then
The film ran across digital and social channels with the #DiIndonesiaAja hashtag as the ministry's first reopening campaign. The source article reports no viewership, sentiment or booking results.
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