The first documentary in Indonesia was Bali which was released in 1932.
In the 1950s, documentary films in Indonesia developed rapidly with the emergence of many television stations.
One of Indonesia's most famous documentary is the butcher of Amir Muhammad which was released in 2003.
Documentary films in Indonesia are often produced by non-governmental institutions such as the Planet Indonesia Foundation and the Nusantara Alam Conservation Foundation.
Since 2016, Indonesia holds a Documentary Film Festival (FFD) every year to promote the Indonesian documentary film industry.
Some Indonesian documentary films have won international awards, such as The Look of Silence by Joshua Oppenheimer who won a jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2014.
Some themes that are often raised in Indonesian documentary films are the environment, socio-political life, and culture.
The use of drones in making documentary films has been increasingly popular in Indonesia in recent years.
Some Indonesian documentary are considered controversial and forbidden to be aired in theaters, such as The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer who expressed the cruelty of the New Order regime.
Indonesian documentary films are often a tool to promote Indonesian tourism, such as Wonderful Indonesia by Yosep Anggi Noen.
