Filmmakers invited to submit entries for KKIFF
KOTA KINABALU: Filmmakers and those aspiring to become one are called to submit their applications and entries to the eighthKotaKinabaluInternational Film Fest (KKIFF) which is now open for submission.
KKIFF director Jude Day disclosed that there are four platforms under the festival that those interested can submit their entries to, namely the Sabah Film Academy, Sabah Pitching and Training Awards, Cinebalu programme, and a newly-introduced genre to the festival this year, the Action 10 Filmmakers’ Competition.
The Sabah Film Academy will be taking place from July 10 to 17 in Kota Kinabalu. Twelve selected participants will have about one month for pre-production before coming to the city to train under a team of some of Malaysia’s finest people in the filmmaking industry including Charlotte Lim, Tommy Mansur and Jeff Yusof, as well as international mentors namely Rick Minnich (USA), Larry Johnson (USA) and David Yanez (Spain).
Participants for the SFA need to be Malaysian and can apply in groups of three and choose whether they want to make a documentary film or a narrative, to be submitted on or before May 13.
The Sabah Pitching and Training Awards on the other hand is open to filmmakers throughout Southeast Asia and Korea, whereby participants are required to submit an idea for a feature-length documentary film.
Training and presentations will take place on July 16 and 17 after which a panel of judges will decide on the winners who will be granted either RM8,000 for the Best Feature-Length Pitch, RM4,000 for the Best Short Film Pitch, and RM8,000 for the Best Sabahan Pitch.
A special grant of about RM3,500 from DMZ Docs have also been introduced, together with an invitation to pitch at the DMZ Docs in Korea in September.
The closing date for Sabah Pitching and Training Awards is on May 31.
Action 10 Filmmakers’ Competition is divided into three categories namely Indigenous, Narrative and Documentary.
Open to participants from across Southeast Asia and Korea, this competition calls for submissions of short films of up to 10 minutes, before May 31.
The winning films of each category, judged by renowned name in the Malaysian film industry, Hassan Muthalib, will receive monetary prizes as well as be screened during the festival’s Awards Night on July 17.
Kopi Cap Kuda
will
be sponsoring the Golden Kinabalu Award for the narrative category, of which the winner will be bringing home RM2,000, while the Kadazandusun Language Foundation (KLF) will be sponsoring the Golden Kinabalu Award for the Indigenous language category, where the prize will also be RM2,000.
There will be a similar Golden Kinabalu Award for the documentary category which will also grant the winner RM2,000, Silver Kinabalu Awards and RM1,000 will also be given to the winners of each category of the competition.
In the meantime, there will also be special awards, namely the Best Entry by a Sabahan which will be given RM1,000, sponsored by Santola Café, the Jury Award, as well as the JuiceSky People’s Award which will be granted to the winner of the online voting.
Another opportunity for film-makers to have their films screened minus the competition for awards is the Cinebalu, which calls upon submissions of short and feature-length films from Malaysian filmmakers and filmmakers throughout Southeast Asia and Korea.
Films are to be submitted by May 6 so as to select the movies to be screened during KKIFF 2016 from July 8 to 17, at MBO Imago Mall, a major sponsor for the festival.
More information is available at the festival’s official website, www.kkif.com.