Lucky Kuswandi (born 29 August 1980) is an Indonesian director and screenwriter.
Career Kuswandi graduated from ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, United States. In 2006, he was selected to join the Berlinale Talent Campus program. In 2009, he directed a short film Miss or Mrs? which was part of anthology film, At Stake and had its world premiere at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. His feature directorial debut, Madame X, which follows a transgender superhero, was released in 2010. In 2014, his second feature film, In the Absence of the Sun had its world premiere at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival and served as the closing film of 25th Singapore International Film Festival. It earned Kuswandi his first nominations at the Indonesian Film Festival for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
In 2015, he directed a short film The Fox Exploits the Tiger's Might, which had its world premiere during the Critics' Week at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It won the Best Short Film at the 2015 Indonesian Film Festival. In 2017, he directed Galih & Ratna, a remake of 1979 film Gita Cinta dari SMA. He was nominated for Citra Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2017 Indonesian Film Festival.
In 2021, he directed a Netflix original film, Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens starring Iqbaal Ramadhan in the titular role. It received sixteen nominations at the 2021 Indonesian Film Festival, including Best Picture. In 2023, he directed his second Netflix original film, Dear David.
In August 2024, Netflix announced that the prequel series of Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens, Ratu Ratu Queens: The Series had been in production, with Kuswandi attached to direct. It was released on 12 September 2025.
He is also a lecturer at the Multimedia Nusantara University since 2009.
Filmography Feature film Year Film Director Producer Writer Notes 2008 9808 Antologi 10 Tahun Reformasi Indonesia Segment: "A Letter of Unprotected Memories" 2009 At Stake Segment: "Miss or Mrs?" 2010 Madame X 2014 In the Absence of the Sun 2015 Fragment Segment: "Serpong" 2016 Three Sassy Sisters 2017 Galih & Ratna 2019 Bridezilla 2021 Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens 2021 A World Without 2023 Dear David 2025 A Normal Woman
Short film Year Film Director Producer Writer Notes 2004 Marie colspan="2" rowspan="2" 2005 Black Cherry 2005 Still 2009 Until the Morning Comes 2011 Borrowed Time 2015 The Fox Exploits the Tiger's Might 2016 The Getaway colspan="2"
Television Year Title Episode/s Director Writer Network 2017 Switch 12 episodes Viu 2018 Halustik Viu 2020 Gossip Girl Indonesia 3 episodes GoPlay 2025 Ratu Ratu Queens: The Series 6 episodes Netflix
References
External links
Lucky Kuswandi filmography at filmindonesia.or.id