Kota Kinabalu: The much-awaited Kota Kinabalu Arts Festival will take place in June with a week-long Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF) curtain raiser from June 3."There is a lot of interest in Sabah about filmmaking and the potential of Sabah as a centre for the film industry in South East Asia," said KKIFF Project Leader, Jude Day here Friday."Our ultimate dream is not only to build up the local talents but to have our very own performing arts theatre," added Society of Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu Sabah (SPARKS) Adviser, Datuk Adeline Leong.
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"A proper performing centre that we so badly need, to allow the creative potentials to grow."The State Government in collaboration with City Hall and Ministry of Tourism had allocated RM20 million to build a Performing Arts Centre in Sabah under the Ninth Malaysian Plan. However, we have yet to see it materialise," Leong added.
The Festival will be jointly organised by the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) and SPARKS and sponsored by SEDIA, Alliance Francaise, Japan Foundation, Goethe-Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Novotel. There will be two other events in conjunction with this festival, namely, the BLINK5 Filmmaker's Competition and Workshop and Film Forum.
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The forum theme is "Building a foundation for Sabahan Film/TV Community" that will be conducted by four acclaimed local film professionals, two of them Sabahans. The forum will provide a platform for discussion among the different interested parties and allow for the sharing of expertise, as well as professional networking.
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It is hoped that the seed will be planted for Sabah to become a venue for showcasing movies by newcomers, thus attracting others who are interested in movie making, including those who would like to fund new movies. This year features seven international movies from several countries - Malaysia (1), France (2), Japan (3) and one from Germany for the first time. The movies are:1. La fille de Monaco (The Girl From Monaco) French, GSC Suria Sabah2. The Big Durian - Malaysian Movie Night, UMS Theatre3. Roman de Gare (Crossed Tracks) French, GSC Suria Sabah4. Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) German, GSC Suria Sabah5. One Million Yen Girl, Japanese, GSC Suria Sabah6. Centimeters per Second, Japanese Anime, UMS Theatre7. Departures, Japanese, GSC Suria Sabah
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Tickets will be available April 15 at RM15. Moviegoers are advised to come one hour prior to the movie, to attend a small gathering where refreshments will be served. Also present at the press conference was Honorary French Consul, Feona Jinul, and First Consul of the Japanese Consulate, Minoru Kikuchi and Novotel General Manager, Jacques Leizerovici.
