One-hour film on origins of Sabah’s Dusun Tatana people
A60-MINUTE documentary about the Dusun Tatana ethnic group has been launched to boost tourism in Sabah, preserve the group’s heritage and prove the capability of local producers in the state.
Persatuan Tatana Sabah president Tan Sri Wences Angang said he hoped that the production of Inherent Tribe Tatana, directed by Sabahan Chester Pang, would win awards at international film festivals.
The film is about the Dusun Tatana people from Kuala Penyu, which is about 110km from here.
The film explores the origins of the group based on traditional literature and oral stories, and the challenges they face today in preserving their culture and customs.
“It is a good production and has potential. If the film wins (awards), it will benefit Sabah in terms of tourism as the Dusun Tatana people will get exposure.
“For the younger generation of the Tatana people, they will also be more satisfied and proud (of their identity).
“The documentary also proves that local production companies are capable of producing quality documentaries,” said Wences, who is also a former Sabah Cultural Board chairman.
He was speaking after the technical preview of the documentary at a cinema here yesterday. Present were Pang and Sabah Creative Economy and Innovation Centre (Scenic) general manager Viviantie Sarjuni.
Pang said the film had been submitted to international film festivals, such as in Busan, Tokyo, Vancouver, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Jakarta, Shenzhen, United Kingdom and Taiwan, to fulfil National Film Development Corporation, conditions for partial funding.
“For this documentary, we only spent about RM280,000 (from sponsors), which is one third of our estimated budget. It involved a crew of 25 and about 80 Kuala Penyu people as actors and actresses.
“We are planning to air it next year either on local television networks, online platforms or even in Netflix,” he said.
Viviantie said Scenic always supported creative talents.
She said Scenic would provide financial support in terms of international festival fees and logistics.