Movies filmed in Bali: what was shot here and what wasn't

By Film Permit Bali Editorial Desk

Among movies filmed in Bali, Eat Pray Love is the well-sourced example: Wikipedia places its shoot in Ubud and at Padang-Padang Beach from August 2009. Ticket to Paradise, set in Bali, is the trap, because Wikipedia says principal photography took place in Queensland, Australia. A ministry official's figures show Bali led foreign permit applications in the first half of 2024.

Which movies filmed in Bali can be confirmed?

This page deliberately names few titles. Lists of famous movies filmed in Bali are easy to find, but a title on a list proves little, and a film set in Bali is not the same as a film shot in Bali. So the test here is a named source for the location, and two titles are checked against it:

This is not a ranking of the best movies filmed in Bali or a full list of Hollywood movies shot here. The same goes for TV shows filmed in Bali. The official figures below show that TV series do come to Indonesia, but they name no titles, and this page will not fill the gap with guesses. For a title you care about, four questions sort a real credit from a repeated one:

1. Does a source name a place in Bali, and not just Indonesia?
2. Does it say the crew shot there, or only that the story is set there?
3. Does it give a date or a shooting period?
4. Does a second source agree?

On the sources below, Eat Pray Love passes all four and Ticket to Paradise fails the second.

Was Eat Pray Love shot in Bali?

Yes. Wikipedia says the film shot in Ubud and at Padang-Padang Beach, among other places, from August 2009. NEEDaFIXER, a company that works with crews in Indonesia, notes that the final act was filmed around Ubud. The two accounts fit together, although neither gives scene-by-scene locations, so this page offers no list of exact spots.

The film's effect outlasted the shoot. The BBC, writing in September 2025, describes Eat Pray Love as part of the image that draws visitors to Bali.

Do not read that 2009 shoot as a guide to the current process. It predates Regulation 48/2018, the text now cited for foreign film permits, so what that crew did tells you little about what a crew must do today. For that, read the film permit Bali overview and how to get a film permit in Bali.

Was Ticket to Paradise shot in Bali?

No, according to Wikipedia. The film is set in Bali, but its principal photography took place in Queensland, Australia, between November 2021 and February 2022.

So if you are searching for a Ticket to Paradise filming location to visit in Bali, there is none to find on this evidence. The confusion is understandable, since a film can look like a place without being shot there. It also shows why "films shot on location in Bali" needs checking title by title.

How many foreign productions film in Indonesia?

The figures available come from a Ministry of Culture official, as quoted by Antara in November 2024. For 2023, the report gives 165 permits for productions from 25 countries, with 1,650 crew working across 27 destination provinces.

Bali led in the first half of 2024, drawing 29 applications, more than any other region in the official's top ten. Here is how the three leading regions compared in that half-year:

So Bali drew almost twice as many applications as Jakarta, the next region, over those six months. The reasons are not given in the numbers.

Which countries send crews to Indonesia?

Companies from a wide spread of countries, though the quoted counts cover Indonesia as a whole. According to the same official, foreign production houses came from Britain (38), Japan (22), Germany (17), the United States (13) and the Netherlands (12), among others. Hollywood is therefore only part of the picture, with the United States in fourth place on that list.

Feature films are not the main story either. Alongside features, the official listed television series, reality and variety formats, advertising and documentaries. Crews worked in cities and markets, customary villages, heritage sites, and nature reserves or national parks. Each of those location types can bring its own consent, which location permits for filming in Bali explains. If your project is non-fiction, the guide to documentary filming in Bali is the closer fit.

What do these numbers leave out?

A good deal. Keep these limits in mind before quoting them:

• They count permits and applications, not finished films. An application in the first half of 2024 may never have reached a set.
• The periods differ. The national total is for 2023, while the regional figures cover six months of 2024, so one cannot be set as a share of the other.
• They give no titles and no split between features, advertising and television in Bali.
• The country counts are not broken down by destination, so they do not show who films in Bali specifically.
• They come through one press report of one official's presentation.
• They concern foreign productions under the permit system. Indonesian productions shot in Bali sit outside these counts.

Read together, the data supports a modest claim: in the period reported, Bali was the region that most foreign applicants asked for. It does not support a claim about which films were made here, or that any particular movie's success brought crews to the island.

This site had no part in any production named above.

What else do people ask about films and Bali?

Which movies were shot in Bali?

This page names only what its sources support: Eat Pray Love, in Ubud and at Padang-Padang Beach. Bali led foreign permit applications in the first half of 2024, but the official figures name no titles, so no others are listed.

What do foreign crews film in Bali?

A ministry official's list for Indonesia takes in television, features, reality and variety formats, commercials and documentaries. It covers the whole country, so it gives no Bali breakdown.

Where was Ticket to Paradise filmed?

In Queensland, Australia, according to Wikipedia, with principal photography between November 2021 and February 2022. The story is set in Bali, but it should not be listed as filmed there.

Where was Eat Pray Love filmed in Bali?

Wikipedia names Ubud and Padang-Padang Beach. NEEDaFIXER adds that the final act was filmed around Ubud. The wider shoot, which started in August 2009, also used other places.

How many foreign productions film in Indonesia?

The figure for 2023 is 165 permits across 25 countries of origin, from a ministry official quoted by Antara in November 2024. We know of no later official total.

Which sources support this page?

• Wikipedia: Eat Pray Love (film)
• NEEDaFIXER: filming in Indonesia
• BBC, September 2025
• Wikipedia: Ticket to Paradise (2022 film)
• Antara Bali, November 2024: Bali remains a favourite location for foreign directors

How do I reach the desk?

If you are planning your own production and want to ask about locations, tell the desk what you are making and where you imagine it. It has no connection to the films named here and cannot promise you the same access. Requests can lead to a paid booking, so the desk is not a disinterested voice; see the about page. A written offer with the fee and contracting company is the only thing that binds. WhatsApp 6281139414563 or bd@juaraholding.com.