The Mo Brothers is an Indonesian filmmaking duo consisting of directors, producers, and screenwriters Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel. They have mostly worked on the action, thriller, and horror genres.[1] They first became known for directing the short film Dara in 2007, which became the basis of their 2009 feature film debut Macabre (Rumah Dara).[2] Together, they have received a Citra Award Best Director nomination in 2016 for directing the action film Headshot, after which Tjahjanto and Stamboel have gone on to make movies individually to further critical and commercial success.[3]

The Mo Brothers
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • writer
Years active2007–present

Career

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Tjahjanto and Stamboel met while both were students in Australia.[4] Stamboel began directing his feature film debut Bunian in Sydney with the entire cast and crew consisting of people who had no experience in filmmaking, including Tjahjanto who was a freelance cameraman.[5]

They worked together as co-directors for the first time in the 2007 short film Dara, which was later included in the 2008 anthology film Takut: Faces of Fear.[6] The short film's success led to the duo working on their 2009 breakout hit Macabre in 2009,[7] receiving praise during its run at several film festivals and launched The Mo Brothers' name into mainstream recognition. They then directed, produced, and wrote the horror-thriller Killers which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews.[8] They followed up with the 2016 action film Headshot which stars Iko Uwais and Chelsea Islan. For their work on Headshot, The Mo Brothers were nominated for Best Director at the 2016 Citra Award but lost to Riri Riza (Athirah).

After Headshot, Tjahjanto and Stamboel have since released feature films individually while still collaborating in different capacities, such as Stamboel who co-produced Tjahjanto's 2018 Netflix original film The Night Comes for Us.[9]

Filmography

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Year Film
Director Writer Producer Editor Notes
2007 Dara Yes Yes Yes Yes Short film
2008 Takut: Faces of Fear Yes Yes Yes Yes Segment: 'Dara'
2009 Macabre Yes Yes Yes No
2014 Killers Yes Yes Yes No
2016 Headshot Yes Yes No No

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result Notes
2007 Freak Show Horror Film Festival Audience Choice Award Dara Won
New York City Horror Film Festival Audience Award Won
2009 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Best of Bucheon Macabre Nominated
2010 Jakarta International Film Festival Best Indonesian Film Won
2011 KasKus untuk Film Indonesia Best Film Won
2016 Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival Best Bloodbath Honorable Mention Killers Won International Film Competition
L'Étrange Festival International Feature Film Headshot Won Shared with They Call Me Jeeg
36th Citra Award Best Director Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto and the New Indonesian Extreme". 5 December 2018.
  2. ^ Stamboel, Kimo; Tjahjanto, Timo (2009-10-08), Macabre (Drama, Horror, Thriller), Shareefa Daanish, Julie Estelle, Ario Bayu, Sigi Wimala, Gorylah Pictures, Merah Production, Guerilla Visuals, retrieved 2021-01-22
  3. ^ Stamboel, Kimo; Tjahjanto, Timo (2016-12-08), Headshot (Action, Drama, Thriller), Iko Uwais, Chelsea Islan, Sunny Pang, Very Tri Yulisman, Infinite Frameworks Studios, Screenplay Infinite Films, retrieved 2021-01-22
  4. ^ Media, Kompas Cyber. "Profil Timo Tjahjanto, Sutradara Film Sebelum Iblis Menjemput Halaman all". KOMPAS.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  5. ^ Media, Kompas Cyber. "Cerita Kimo Stamboel Bikin Film Horor Berbekal Handycam Halaman all". KOMPAS.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  6. ^ "FILM - Rumah Dara (2009)". Tribunnewswiki.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  7. ^ Stamboel, Kimo; Tjahjanto, Timo (2009-10-08), Macabre (Drama, Horror, Thriller), Shareefa Daanish, Julie Estelle, Ario Bayu, Sigi Wimala, Gorylah Pictures, Merah Production, Guerilla Visuals, retrieved 2021-01-23
  8. ^ Killers (2014), retrieved 2021-02-05
  9. ^ Tjahjanto, Timo (2018-10-19), The Night Comes for Us (Action, Thriller), Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, Hannah Al Rashid, Julie Estelle, Infinite Frameworks Studios, Screenplay Infinite Films, XYZ Films, retrieved 2021-02-05