Mammoth victory

R. AGE documentary on human- elephant conflict wins at KKIFF.

IT was a story the R. AGE team stumbled upon almost by accident, but it still managed to win an award at the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival ( KKIFF)!

The Elephant In My Room, a documentary about the escalating conflict between the orang asli and wild elephants in the jungles of Perak, bagged a Silver Kinabalu Award at KKIFF recently.

The team was actually in the Royal Belum State Park in Perak to film another documentary, The Curse Of Serawan ( which won an Asian Media Award), but when the village they were staying at was attacked by an elephant, they started investigating.

They found that the elephant population had doubled in less than five years due to the Wildlife Department’s elephant translocation programme, and the elephants were increasingly turning to orang asli villages as a convenient source of food.

“This win means a lot to us in many ways,” said R. AGE senior producer Elroi Yee.

“But most of all, we are glad as the award allows the issue to gain more traction and create more awareness, which is a win- win situation for both man and beast.”

Filmmaker and KKIFF judge Hassan Muthalib said the message of the documentary was conveyed “very tastefully”.

“It told a good story and was cleverly done, without pointing any fingers.”

Jagat director Shanjhey Kumar Perumal, also one of the judges, said the documentary was relatable and made a big impact on him.

“It was a film that depicted very clearly what was faced by the orang asli,” he said.

“It is an example of good investigative journalism in Malaysia.”