Yandy Laurens & His Magical Touch, Not Instant Success - His Work Isn't Just 'SORE'

Born in Makassar on April 9, 1989, the full name Alexander Yandy Laurens has shown an interest in the arts from an early age. Yandy has a great passion for comics, church dramas, and play scripts during his high school years.

While sitting in high school, Yandy was asked by his senior to write a play script. When the performance day arrived, he contracted measles, but he still came and submitted the script he wrote, because he felt that the performance should align with that script.

As he grew up, Yandy aspired to become a theater director. One day, he accidentally bought a book titled Becoming a Television Director written by Naratama. This introduced him to the profession of film directing. Yandy then moved to Jakarta to pursue film studies at the Jakarta Institute of Arts (IKJ).

Approaching his graduation from IKJ, Yandy directed a film for his final project titled WAN AN. This film tells the love story of an elderly couple and poses the question of what one would do if one of them were to pass away first. 

After that, Yandy directed commercials, music videos, and web series. One of the series he directed and became quite popular is Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan, starring Tika Bravani and Dion Wiyoko. That series became the precursor to the film SORE: ISTRI DARI MASA DEPAN, which is currently going viral and receiving a lot of positive attention from netizens and film enthusiasts.

Yandy Laurens shows his courage to explore the romantic and comedic side in the film JATUH CINTA SEPERTI DI FILM-FILM, released in 2023, an experimental work with black-and-white visuals and an unconventional narrative approach.

This film received eleven nominations at the 2024 Indonesian Film Festival, including Best Film and Best Director, proving that its aesthetic experiment has been well received in the increasingly dynamic national film industry.

A year later, he returns to present a family story through 1 SIBLING 7 NIECES, a touching drama about a young architect who must care for seven of his nieces at once, showcasing his skill in wrapping a simple story with a strong emotional message.

Yandy Laurens' directing style is known to be very humanistic and tends to highlight the dynamics of interpersonal relationships with a subtle approach, making the audience feel emotionally connected to the characters and the conflicts presented.

He often explores themes of family, love, loss, and hope with a storytelling rhythm that is gentle yet sharp, without the need for excessive dramatic effects or preachy dialogue, resulting in a final product that feels honest and grounded.

Yandi is said to be able to build closeness with fellow crew members behind the scenes as well as the actors & actresses. This is what makes his films look more alive. 

Yandi received an award from the Indonesian Film Festival in 2024. He received two nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for FALLING IN LOVE LIKE IN THE MOVIES. He won in the Best Original Screenplay category.

Yandi has also won several awards from the Maya Cup, Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, to the Indonesian Movie Actors Awards in various categories. In 2025, Yandi was included in the list of recipients of the 40 Under 40 award given by Fortune Indonesia. This list contains forty of the most influential Indonesians in various sectors who are under 40 years old as of December 31, 2024.