One contest, three awards
IACT STUDENTS clinched not just one but three awards at The Star’s “English for More Opportunities” ( EFMO) Short Film Competition October 2015.
The event is one many efforts by The Star newspaper to promote the importance of the English language and to instil the proper use of the language.
IACT College Broadcasting Programme Leader Cyrus Tan seized the opportunity for his students to participate in the EFMO competition by making it a class assignment.
Creativity development
“At IACT College, we believe that practical exercises are pivotal to the students’ creativity development,” Tan explained.
“Thus, we always expose our students to various industry- based experiences and competitions.”
Kirran Prashaanth, a Diploma in Broadcasting student at IACT College, emerged as the grand- prize winner of the EFMO competition for his film Aangilam.
The film features an immigrant caught in a predicament when he loses his wallet and encounters communication problems with the locals due to his lack of English proficiency.
Prashaanth shares, “Students must be able to communicate in English since it is the global language used by billions of people.
“Communicating in English would not only open up international job prospects but will expose young employees to different cultures.”
Together with his cousin Prem Darsha ( better known as “Prem D”) and college mate Lai Zhi Liang, they produced the award- winning film under their own production team, Blank Productions, at the mere cost of RM50.
Delightful returns
Much to their delight, the return was a RM2,500 cash prize.
Prashaanth, who also directed the film, was inspired by a true story that happened in Ipoh, Perak, where a foreign worker struggled to find his passport due to his illiteracy in Bahasa Malaysia.
Connecting to the aims of EFMO, his personal advice to the youth is, “Never shy away from speaking English.
“Hone your skills, speak to those who are proficient in English and most importantly read books.”
Apart from the grand prize, IACT students also claimed the first and second runner- up awards in the EFMO Competition.
Petals Production’s E! NEWZ and Ice Mountain’s A Tour to Remember won the RM1,500 and RM1,000 cash prizes respectively.
Although there were only three cash prizes to be won, about 10 entries were submitted by IACT students from the Video Production, the Production Management and Scriptwriting classes.
“We strongly encourage students to participate in competitions such as the EFMO competition organised by The Star,” Tan concluded.
Industry standards
“Not only does it force our students to make good films that meet industry standards, we as experienced industry lecturers can help inject creativity as well as motivate and guide students throughout the process.”
IACT College offers degree, diploma, and foundation programmes in mass communication, media, marketing, advertising, broadcasting, graphic design and creative multimedia.
Students who are interested to learn more about the programme can visit IACT College which is open every day – Mondays to Fridays ( 9am to 6pm) and Saturdays and Sundays ( 10am to 5pm).
IACT College is the creative communication specialist in Malaysia, offering an array of programmes in Media and the Creative Arts.
It pioneers in project- based learning ( PBL) with its students trained to work on real- life projects, which are provided and assessed by industry leaders.
This has successfully produced many job- ready and award- winning graduates who are now leaders in the creative communication field.
For enquiries, call 03- 7454 1909 or log on to www. iact. edu. my.