Kota Kinabalu: The 15th Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF) Awards Night will celebrate, tonight (Sunday), the creative achievements of local and international filmmakers, with 58 remarkable entries competing in this year’s Pink10 Filmmakers’ Competition.
However, only four will emerge victorious and bring home the prestigious Golden Kinabalu Awards and RM3,000 for each category – Narrative, Documentary, Indigenous Language and Explore Sabah.
The finalists are “Chuff Chuff Chuff” by Koi Wang Chao from Taiwan, “To Build a Home” (Anjella Gieneena Binay Cruz, Philippines), “The Digitalised Memories” (Sin Ru Lim, China), “Don’t Get to Close to That Edge” (Anwar Johari Ho, Malaysia), “Explore Sabah” (Chun-Chiew Foong, Malaysia), “Home of Heart” (Jevier Joachim, Malaysia), “Rise Up” (Judith Joseph, Malaysia), “The Manggis in Ah Gong’s Hand” (Loo Yuan Ling, Malaysia), “Memory” (Mohd Awis Abu Bakar, Malaysia), “KL Limbo” (Adam Taufiq Suharto, Malaysia), “The Rhythm of Our Ancestors” (Genevives Sulan, Malaysia), and “Weaving Dreams” (Breech Asher Harani, Philippines).
The jury comprises Malaysia’s animation industry pioneer Hassan Muthalib, Sabah-born filmmaker Bebbra Mailin and Sabahan animator Geoffrey Sinn.
Aside from that, the winner of the Sabah Pitching Training will be announced tonight.
The two-day training began Saturday, and it was guided by lead trainer Mark Overett, the Head of the Film and TV Department at JMC Academy in Australia.
The winner will get funding to move on to the next stage of making their film.
Four short films by the 18 Sabah Film Lab participants (SFL) will also be screened.
The SFL is a highly competitive, fully-funded eight-day filmmaking course from Sept 8 to 15.
The programme was created specifically for Malaysian filmmakers to hone their skills. The participants were divided into four groups - two for narrative and the rest for documentary.
Each participant in the group will take on different roles, such as director, director of photography, and editor.
Participants were trained by local and international filmmaking mentors, including those from Japan, Ireland, and New Zealand.
This year’s mentors were Isazaly Isa, Gabrielle Kelly, Putri Purnama Sugua, Roy Taoho, Hikaru Toda and Ahmad Yazid.
The KKIFF Awards Night’s programme will start at 7pm at the Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu. Admission is free and open to all. Light refreshments will also be served.
