Lucky Kuswandi

Lucky Kuswandi 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.