At some point in college, Ifan Ismail had just realized that he had been a film-buff since he was a child. Through his activities in the Student Film League (Liga Film Mahasiswa/LFM) in Bandung Institute of Technology, he was immersed even deeper in the world of cinema. He tried his hand first into the production for the feature film Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (AADC) as a propman and onion cutter. After that, he jumped into television and filmmaking mainly as a screenwriter for shows like Extravaganza and feature films such as Habibie & Ainun and Sultan Agung. This profession took him to join residency programs, two of which are ASEAN in Residence, held by the Ministry of Culture of Thailand, and Kyoto Filmmakers Lab in Kyoto. Both in 2014.

Since 2017, he has been the Coordinator Program for kineforum, an alternative film space, operating under the Film Committee of Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ). Today he still manages the kineforum program and writes screenplays. Currently, he is a Senior Development of Skriptura, Visinema’s creative and writing division.