Borneo's bio cultural diversity to be showcased at Film Fest
Published on: Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Borneo's bio cultural diversity will be showcased through environmental films and local community filmmaking will be nurtured in a non-profit event to be held next month.The Borneo Eco Film Festival (BEFF), a home grown annual green event from Oct 2-4, is back with workshops, talks and film screenings open to the public for free."Our goals are to educate through new knowledge on ecological and cultural issues, expose through environmental films that stimulate discussion and engage storytellers through a platform for community filmmaking," said BEFF Board of Committee member Melissa Leong, Monday.
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The festival to be held at the Department of Arts and Culture (JKKN) Sabah Complex Auditorium is in its fifth year with the special guest being Bird Runningwater, an award winning Native American filmmaker.As programmer for Native American Initiatives at the Sundance Institute, Runningwater works with native screenwriters on the development of their scripts and he will share his experience and knowledge about indigenous and community filmmaking."We are honoured to have Bird Runningwater join us this year. Bird's expertise and experience will contribute to the improvement of our SUARA programme and also BEFF. We look forward to the cultural and knowledge exchange," said BEFF Chairperson Dr Agnes Agama.Other highlights include the Suara Community Filmmaking programme that brings together some 80 participants from selected local communities around Sabah to learn to communicate their worldview, opinions and stories via filmmaking.
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Intensive training courses are held four times a year with film industry professionals and this year, the workshop venues include Karamuak, Semporna and Sukau.The BEFF weekend is a culmination of this workshop series where Suara participants will have a chance to have their films screened during the festival on Oct 4 at 8pm where the public is welcome for the screening.
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There will be 17 films screened during BEFF and according to Agnes, this year's films were selected based on their messages, delivery, and relevance to the people of Sabah."These chosen films showcase wonderfully the beauty and fragility of this Earth, and highlight the need and urgency for mankind to lead a more sustainable living. "The environment and people's lives are intertwined. Progress as we know it must shift to be more inclusive, kinder and less impactful to the environment. We hope to drive home this message and spotlight the relationship between Man and Nature through these films," she said.BEFF opens on Friday night with Sandakan 1950s, a short footage from the Sandakan Yacht Club archives, showcasing post-war Sandakan. Another historical film highlights beautiful Land Below The Wind, namely This Is Sabah, from the archives of National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas). Sabah Museum was instrumental in the sourcing of these two films. "These are just some of the films featured this year. BEFF has the privilege of bringing some of these films for the first time to South East Asia and Asia. These film screenings are free and open to everyone so bring your friends and families," Agnes added.Films will be screened from 7.30pm to 11pm on opening night (Oct 2) and from 4.30pm on Saturday and Sunday. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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