Where was Dear David shot? Filming locations of the Indonesian Netflix film explored

Netflix is set to stream its new romantic offering, Dear David, from Thursday, February 9, 2023. The coming-of-age flick is based around adolescence, a crucial time in someone’s life.

The Indonesian film is another Valentine’s Day offering from the streamer after Ashton Kutcher, Reese Witherspoon-starrer Your Place or Mine, and the dating competition series Perfect Match.

Dear David has been directed by Lucky Kuswandi and stars Shenina Cinnamon as Laras, a timid and simple high-school student who writes a secret fantasy blog about her crush.

However, when one of her classmates leaks that blog online, it wreaks havoc on her psyche. How Laras emerges as a self-assured woman, breaking the shackles of diffidence, forms the rest of the story.

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Dear David was shot entirely in Indonesia

A scene in Dear David. (Photo via Netflix)

Dear David's plot is simple, so the team did not need to travel to exotic locations for filming. Reports indicate that the film was shot in the country of origin, utilizing locations such as Jakarta and Bali.

From the trailer of the 2-hour-long flick, it can be safely concluded that much of the film was shot in a school since the plot is about students. However, Laras' fantasy scenes, particularly the beach sequences in the video, have piqued people's interest in where they were shot.

So, without wasting any more time, let’s dive right in and explore the spots where the Netflix film was shot.

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Bali: The Island of the Gods

At the 1:49-minute mark in the trailer, we see Cinnamon’s Laras sitting by a waterfall, and in the next second, a beachside scene showing David (Emir Mahira) playing guitar to Laras, seated atop a tree, pops up.

Both sequences are set outdoors and have most probably been shot in Bali. These breathtaking frames, admittedly, tickle the wanderlust bone in you and drive you to reach for your diary and plan a vacation.

The Indonesian province is the main attraction for visitors and as per a Statista report, last year, over 2 million tourists vacationed in Bali. In fact, tourism is the main financial backbone for Bali locals, which contributes 61% to its GDP.

Nicknamed the Island of Paradise, Bali has a magical blend of weather, people, culinary delights, culture, nightlife, and activities, making the province an ideal spot for vacationing all year round.

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Jakarta: The Indonesian capital

Several key scenes of Dear David, like the ones set in Laras’ school, were seemingly filmed in an actual institution in Jakarta. That aside, the team may also have used a film studio for the protagonist’s fantasy sequences and other shots.

Jakarta is the largest city in Indonesia and is the most populous island in the world. Finance, ownership, business services, trade, hospitality, manufacturing industry, and service sectors based in Jakarta are the major contributory factors to the Indonesian economy.

The city also attracts tourists every year who visit landmarks including:

• The National Monument
• Istiqlal Mosque
• Merdeka Square
• Taman Mini Indonesia Park
• Thousand Islands
• Ancol Dreamland
• National Museum of Indonesia
• Jakarta Cathedral
• National Gallery

But not all is well with Jakarta, as the city faces quite a number of challenges, like ecological breakdown, gridlocked traffic, rapid urban growth, congestion, and flooding.

It also sinks 6.7 inches every year and rising sea levels have only made matters worse. Taking this into account, the current President of Indonesia Joko Widodo announced in 2019 that the Indonesian capital will be shifted from Jakarta to Nusantara, located in East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo.

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Dear David streams on Netflix from Thursday, February 9, 2023.