Film powerful tool to break any manmade barriers
ASEAN Committee hosts five-day movie screenings At Kuwait National Library
KUWAIT: The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Committee in Kuwait under the chairmanship of the Philippines inaugurated a five-day screening of movies produced by member-states on Sunday. The ASEAN group comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. All of the mentioned countries have diplomatic missions in Kuwait except for Singapore.
In his inaugural speech, Philippines Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa welcomed the guests to the five-day event and hoped that people will come to realize how powerful a film can be, and would learn more about each one’s culture. “Film is just one of the many powerful tools used to accomplish our goals, it breaks down unforeseen manmade barriers and unites people from diverse cultures,” Villa said.
“After five decades of regional grouping, the ASEAN has accomplished several milestones and one of them was the establishment of the ASEAN community in 2015, as one community. This includes continued peace and harmony in the region, that will give our people more access and greater opportunities to pursue their dreams,” he added.
Organized under the auspices of the National Council for Culture, arts and Letters, the film week is being screened at the Kuwait National Library from December 3 to 8, 2017, from 6:30 pm onwards. Faisal Al-Mutairi, the Councilor of Asian Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saleh Al-Asousi, Assistant Secretary General for the National Council for Culture, arts and Letters and Sulaiman Abdul Jalil-Director General of the National Library of Kuwait were present during the inaugural ceremony.
‘Polis Evo,’ a Malaysian action drama and comedy directed by Ghaz Abu Bakar was screened, on Sunday. The film is about two policemen, with different personalities, forced to work together to bring down a drug trafficking gang. The film earned 17.3 million Malaysian Ringgit. ‘Kayan Beauties,’ a film directed by Aung Ko Llatt who cowrote the story with Hector Carosso, followed by an Indonesian film entitled ‘Habibie and Ainun’ were featured yesterday. No movies will be featured today on account of Thailand’s National Day.
A film produced by Brunei, ‘Ada Apa Dengan Rina (What’s So Special About Rina?) will be screened tomorrow, followed by ‘The Overture’ movie from Thailand. On Thursday, ‘Terbaik Dari Langit,’ an adventure movie from Malaysia will be showcased. The movie, released in 2014, is directed by Nik Amir Mustapha. It will be followed by Laotian movie ‘Only Love,’ a production by Lao Art Media released in 2010 and directed by Anousone Sirisackda. The finale will see a film from the Philippines ‘Bayan Ko’ (My Country), a story of a dynasty, greediness and corruption. All films screenings are available to the public free of charge.