The film sold out its Bali screening so fast that people sat on the floor. Then it went to Hollywood. Viking Sunset Studios was there for both.
On June 26, 2026, at 9:15 PM at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood, Bandit had its World Premiere at the 29th Annual Dances With Films LA Film Festival. The Viking Sunset Studios team was on that red carpet. As investors in the film, standing at one of Hollywood’s most iconic venues to watch an Indonesian story get its moment in front of a Los Angeles audience, this was not a night we are going to forget quickly.
From a Sold-Out Floor in Bali to a Hollywood Screen
Before Hollywood, there was Bali. Bandit screened at the Bali International Film Festival earlier in June to a crowd that had to be turned away at the door. The people who could not find a seat stayed anyway and watched from the floor. That kind of audience response tells you something real about a film. It tells you it connects. That it is doing something the people in the room needed to see.
That same film then travelled to the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood, one of the most recognisable cinema venues on the planet, to screen as a World Premiere at Dances With Films LA. The distance between a sold-out floor at Balinale and a red carpet in Hollywood is not small. Bandit covered it in three weeks.
What Bandit Is About
Bandit is an Indonesian crime thriller directed by Brian L. Tan. Two friends, desperate and running low on options, decide to steal what looks like an abandoned Mercedes G-Wagon for a quick score. What they find in the trunk changes everything. A dead body. And whoever put it there is not finished with the car. What follows is an overnight thriller that takes its two leads through Bali’s criminal underworld, a survival story built on the friendship between two people who made one decision too many and now have to live with the consequences.
It is part crime film, part friendship story, and entirely set in a Bali that most international audiences have never seen. Not the rice terraces and yoga retreats. The streets at night, the weight of poverty, the choices that desperation produces. Director Brian L. Tan, known as BLT, has spoken about wanting to show a side of the island that exists alongside the postcard version: “Bandit reveals another side of the island while telling a story that could resonate anywhere. At its heart, it’s about friendship, bad decisions, and what happens when ordinary people find themselves caught in a situation spiraling beyond their control.”
That is an accurate description. And the critical response following the DWF screening confirms that the film delivers on that ambition. Reviewers have praised the cinematography, the performances, and Tan’s confidence as a debut feature filmmaker. One note from FandomWire called it an auspicious breakout driven by strong production values that outperform what its indie budget might suggest.
Why Dances With Films Matters
Dances With Films LA is not a boutique niche event. It is Los Angeles’ largest independent film festival and has a strong track record of being the place where careers begin. The festival has always operated from a clear creative position: champion filmmakers working outside the studio system, give platforms to work that would not exist if it required conventional industry approval, and trust the audience to respond to originality.
Bandit fits that mandate exactly. The 2026 programme includes 279 films across all formats, with 36 feature-length world premieres. Among all of them, Bandit is one of a small number of internationally produced narratives having its first public screening anywhere in the world. The fact that an Indonesian film with a Bali setting is among those world premieres at TCL Chinese Theatre is a meaningful statement about where global cinema is right now.
What This Means for Viking Sunset Studios
Viking Sunset Studios invested in Bandit because we believed in what Brian L. Tan was building. The film is set in Bali, shot in Bali, and tells a Bali story in a way that is specific enough to feel real and universal enough to travel. That combination is hard to find and harder to execute.
Being at the DWF red carpet for the World Premiere was not just a moment to celebrate the film. It was a moment that brought into focus what Viking Sunset Studios is actually trying to build: a production ecosystem in Bali that is connected to the global film industry, not adjacent to it. A Bali-set film at TCL Chinese Theatre is Bali at the table, not Bali on the sidelines.
The screening in Hollywood came two weeks after a sold-out Balinale crowd sat on the floor to watch the same film. Both of those things are true at the same time and together they make the point better than any marketing campaign could.
The Bigger Picture for Indonesian Cinema
Bandit is one film. But it arrives at a moment when the case for Indonesian cinema as a genuine international force is being made from multiple directions simultaneously. A Cannes Immersive Competition selection. A Hollywood world premiere. A domestic box office that local films now dominate with a 67 percent market share. A generation of filmmakers who grew up watching both Indonesian and international cinema and are not interested in choosing between them.
Bandit exists inside that moment. It is not a film that asks international audiences to make a cultural concession in order to engage with it. It is a genre film that happens to be Indonesian, which is a fundamentally different proposition. That distinction is exactly what takes a national cinema from interesting to inevitable on the global stage. Viking Sunset Studios intends to be part of that story for a long time.
Work With Viking Sunset Studios in Bali
Located in Tabanan, Bali, Viking Sunset Studios is an international creative production hub offering world-class facilities for film, commercial, and content production. From our soundproof green screen studio and professional equipment to stunning natural backdrops including beach, rice terraces, jungle, cave and temple, everything you need is in one place.
Whether you are scouting for a film studio in Bali, looking for a production partner in Southeast Asia, or searching for locations for movies filmed in Bali, we would love to hear about your project.
Get in touch: info@vikingsunsetstudios.com
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