Three films to be screened at City Mall
Published on: Saturday, September 07, 2024
By: Ricardo Unto
A still from “The Stronghold”.
Kota Kinabalu: The 15th edition of the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF) will raise its curtains today (Saturday) with the screening of three films at the City Cineplex, City Mall, here.
At 2pm, Ukranian adventure/fantasy film “The Stronghold” will be the opener for the KKIFF’s Cinebalu Screenings.
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In the film, a solar eclipse activates a magic time portal and a regular schoolboy Vit’ko from the 21st century goes back a thousand years in time.
Vitya soon recognises that he is with the legendary Bogatyrs who have to defend themselves against the Cumans.
The Cumans use weapons and black magic to try and destroy the Bogatyrs at any cost.
Vitya finds himself in the midst of incredible events, battling with a giant stone monster and acquiring real courage.
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Meanwhile, in the evening, screenings will start at 8pm with “Sweet Plastik” and “Red, White and Brass”.
“Sweet Plastik” is a docufiction film from Indonesia with five speakers who tell their stories of happiness, according to their respective perceptions, accompanied by a fictional entity, Saida.
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It is a story about happiness and audio-visual parade that illustrates those feelings.
This will be followed by “Red, White and Brass”, a comedy film from New Zealand.
When Wellington Tongan superfan Maka fails to get tickets to a hometown Rugby World Cup match between France and Tonga, he will do whatever it takes to get tickets – even if that means promising to deliver a brass band for the pre-match entertainment.
The only problem is – the band does not exist and Maka has four weeks to make one.
But his mates struggle with their lack of music skills and his elders are unconvinced by their performance.
Audiences to the opening shows at 2pm and 8pm will also be entertained by a special performance by Larissa Kovalchuk, who will perform on the Ukrainian folk instrument, the bandura.
Kovalchuk’s exceptional soprano voice, combined with the gentle sounds of the bandura, has thrilled audiences from Ukraine and Western Europe to Australia.
She studied voice, bandura and conducting at Kiev Conservatorium of Music and soon became one of the nation’s leading players.
Since moving to Australia, Kovalchuk has made many recordings and has had many invited performances.
She holds a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Sydney and is currently the Leading Vocal Teacher at the Riverina Conservatorium of Music.
The bandura is the Ukrainian national instrument. The modern concert bandura has 65 strings and is chromatically tuned over five octaves.
When plucked with the fingertips, the strings produce a sound similar to that of a harp and harpsichord combined.
Nowadays the bandura is taught as a solo and ensemble instrument in the music schools and conservatories in Ukraine.
For more information, visit the official website at kkiff.com.
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