Sunday, July 19, 2009

MALAYSIAN FILM FESTIVAL INFO - STRAIGHT OFF THE PRESSES

Surprise! Surprise! FINAS announced some information regarding the upcoming Malaysian Film Festival this August in Kota Kinabalu. It appeared in Berita Minggu. I doubt any of the English language papers carried the article or announcement today.
The FINAS Director-General Mahyidin Mustakim is over the moon saying that the event is the biggest in festival's history. According to him 193 works will be participating the festival. Wait..wait..of course not 193 feature films lah...that number includes 64 short films, 71 documentaries, 25 animated shorts, 6 digital films and 27 feature films.
Wow...we do really have a great and burgeoning film industry. In fact, if there are already 71 documentaries participating, don't you think there should be a Documentary Film Festival already existing? I mean, I am a fan of good documentaries and the Best Documentary award winner shouldn't be a second class citizen to the winner of the Best Film award winner. At least that's what I think.
Anyway, this posting is to inform you guys - those who were invited, those who were not but planning to go anyway, those who are in Sabah and wondering what the heck is going to happen next month.

THE PROGRAM

6th-8th August Free film screenings at One Borneo cineplex.
3rd-7th August Video Production, Screenwriting and Acting workshops.
5th August Official Opening and Film Premiere at One Borneo.
6th August Film Symposium at Resitel Hall, UMS
6th August Film Appreciation: Deddy M. Borhan
6th August Gala Dinner at Magellan Resort
8th August Gala Awards Night Ceremony, Dewan Canselor, UMS

No mention of how the public are to attend these functions or whether it's free or payable. Will keep you guys informed.

LIST OF FEATURE FILMS COMPETING FOR AWARDS:
LOS & FAUN, JIN HUTAN, TALENTIME, GENG: PENGEMBARAAN BERMULA, JALANG, CICAKMAN 2, MOMOK THE MOVIE, KAMI THE MOVIE, BUDAK KELANTAN, SIFU & TONGGA, ANTOO FIGHTER, BOHSIA, SKRIP 7707, RASUKAN ABLASA, JANGAN TEGUR, BRAINSCAN, SELAMAT PAGI CINTA, SYURGA CINTA, SENARIO THE MOVIE EPISOD 1, TIPU KANAN TIPU KIRI, MAUT, HISTERIA, SETEM, PAPADOM, JOMLAH C.I.U.M.,SAYANG YOU CAN DANCE, JANGAN PANDANG BELAKANG CONGKAK and ESTET.

If I am not mistaken, Ahmad Idham has five movies in the running (Jangan Tegur, Syurga Cinta, Brainscan, Senario The Movie and Jangan Pandang Belakang Congkak). Afdlin has two (Los & Faun and Papadom) whilst prolific Razak Mahideen has three ( Skrip 7707, Rasukan Ablasa and Sifu & Tongga).

From the list, there's hardly a movie that stands out artistically. Sell Out! is not mentioned here but could be in the running in the Digital Film category. Or it is not allowed to compete since it is not in Bahasa Malaysia.

But honestly, I doubt anyone has since each and every movie listed here. Only the jurors would have the ineviable task of viewing all. I have viewed only three movies on that list - that's how bad the selection is. Estet, Geng and Budak Kelantan.

5 comments:

N said...

is it that sad? there must be more, better made films out there, no?

you've seen 3 of the films, maybe the rest are not that bad? (i'm trying to be a bit optimistic). looking at the titles, and trailers on youtube, i would think not, but who knows.

i think rasukan ablasa is also by the 'prof', so 3 then?

also, i think ahmad idham is on equal douschebag level as the prof, if not more.

thanks for this and please tell more.

anwardi said...

Below is the ranking in Malaysian universities as found in Wikipedia;
Staff ranking in Malaysian public universities are based on the British system as a legacy of the British colonising the country. There are only slight variations among the universities but the general ranking is as follows

Academic positions (in descending hierarchy)

* Profesor DiRaja (Royal Professor, usually retired professors, title bestowed by King)
* Profesor Emeritus (usually retired professors)
* Senior Professor (a newly introduced rank mainly to denote salary and hierarchical difference)
* Professor
* Associate Professor
* Senior Lecturer
* Lecturer/Tutor/Assistant Lecturer
* Instructor (with pre-degree qualifications)

Administrative (in descending hierarchy)

* Chancellor (Federal/State Ruler)
* Pro Chancellor (non-executive)
* Vice Chancellor
* Deputy Vice Chancellor
* Assistants Vice Chancellor
* Deans of Faculties
* Head of Programme

anwardi said...

Assistant professors who are granted tenure and promotion move to the rank of associate professor. This usually results in an increased administrative load and membership on committees that are restricted to tenured faculty. Some people remain at the level of associate professor throughout their careers. However, most will apply for the final promotion to full professor; the timeline for making this application is more flexible than that for assistant to associate positions and the associate professor does not normally lose his/her job if the application is rejected.

anwardi said...

So N, I think people should stop calling him a Professor when he is not? He is just an Associate Professor.

Second Anniversary Gifts said...

Great to see such excellent film makers everywhere in the world.