Sleep No More, the latest feature by Indonesian auteur Edwin, will celebrate its world premiere in the Berlinale Special Midnight sidebar of the upcoming Berlinale (12–22 February). Conceived as a hybrid of horror fantasy, body horror and social allegory, the film positions itself squarely within the festival’s nocturnal showcase for boundary-pushing genre cinema.

The pic, penned by Edwin himself with Eka Kurniawan and Daishi Matsunag, stars Rachel Amanda, Lutesha, Iqbaal Ramadhan, Didik Nini Thowok, Sal Priadi and Luqman Hakim in the lead roles. Set within the claustrophobic confines of a wig factory in East Jakarta, it follows two sisters grappling with the violent death of their mother. Putri (played by Amanda) attributes the tragedy to suicide brought on by chronic sleep deprivation, while Ida (Lutesha) suspects something far more disturbing: demonic possession. Determined to uncover the truth, Ida takes a job at the same factory, submitting herself to an exhausting day-and-night routine that gradually erodes the boundary between waking life and nightmare. When their younger brother Bona (Ramadhan), born with the unsettling ability to regenerate his own body, draws the attention of a spectral presence haunting the factory’s corridors, the siblings are pulled into a spiral that exposes a web of exploitation, repression and supernatural menace.

True to Edwin’s cinema, the premise functions as more than genre mechanics. The factory becomes a pressure cooker for wider social anxieties, with sleep deprivation, bodily control and industrial discipline refracted through horror imagery. The director’s filmography - from Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], which premiered in competition in Berlin in 2012 — has consistently fused stylised storytelling with sharp critiques of power, masculinity and marginalisation. Sleep No More promises to extend that trajectory into darker, more visceral terrain.

The project has travelled a long development path. It was first presented at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest in 2023 before entering production in late 2024, with principal photography taking place at the historic Produksi Film Negara building in East Jakarta.

Key creatives include DoP Akiko Ashizawa, production designer MenfoTantono, editor Daniel Hui, composer Hiroyuki Nagashima, visual effects supervisor Issei Oda and sound designers Lim Ting Li and Grace Hui.

The producers are Meiske Taurisia and Muhammad Zaidy, who are co-producing the pic with Anthony Chen, Teoh Yi Peng, Atsuko Ohno, Terutaro Osanai, Dian Sastrowardoyo, Roshanak Behesht Nedjad and Marine Arrighi de Casanova.

Sleep No More is an Indonesian-Singaporean-Japanese-German-French project with Ramadhan also serving as an executive producer and led by Indonesia’s Beacon Films and Palari Films. Co-production partners are Singapore’s Giraffe Pictures, Japan’s Hassaku Labs, Germany’s In Good Company and France’s Apsara Films, working in association with Phoenix Films, Natasha Sidharta, Imajinari, Inspirasi Duta Radians, Culture Entertainment, Jagartha Group, Trinity Entertainment Network, DR.M (Digital Rantai Maya), ModFilms, TIXID, Jose Dimas Satria and Imanuel Nugroho Wirajay. Attached backers are the Singapore Film Commission, the Government of Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund, Visions Sud Est, the Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation, the CNC’s Aide aux Cinemas du Monde fund and the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture.

International sales are being handled by South Korean outfit Showbox.