KK International Film Festival is back

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KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF) is back for the seventh year and will be held from May 31 to June 11.

It continues to be co-organised by SEDIA and SPArKS (Society of Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu Sabah), in collaboration with Elysee Fund (through the Goethe-Institute Malaysia and Alliance Francaise) and the Embassy of the USA.

“The criteria (of materials to be submitted for competition in KKIFF2015) are simple; as long as they portray the originality and creativity of story-telling,” said KKIFF 2015 director Jude Day.

“KKIFF 2015 promises to be the best film festival yet. We have positioned ourselves as a significant film festival in the ASEAN region to build up, nurture and present young talented film directors.”

KKIFF is currently calling for applications for the Sabah Film Academy which will take place from May 31 to June 7.

The 10 selected participants from Malaysia will work in two teams with four mentors from Germany, France, the USA and the ASEAN region. In the month before they come to Kota Kinabalu, the two teams will work on pre-production of their 10-minute documentaries with their mentors and each other.

Once in KK, everyone will finalise pre-production arrangements and attend workshops with the mentors. Then they will go out and shoot their documentaries, edit them and screen them at Awards Night on Sunday, June 7. Applications close on April 30.

The film festival is also calling for applications for the Sabah Pitching Training & Awards programme on June 5 and 6. Anyone within the ASEAN region can apply with a new documentary film project. These can be feature-length (60 minutes plus) or shorts (up to 15 minutes).

The 10 selected projects can be represented at KKIFF by two people each who will receive training in making pitches before pitching to a panel who will award a total of RM20,000 in grants to help get three of the projects started.

In addition to these two opportunities, KKIFF is calling for film submissions for its 2015.

Firstly, the Rolling10 Filmmakers’ Competition is open to anyone within the ASEAN region. The theme is: ROLLING and the movies are to be up to 10 minutes long. There are three categories for submissions: documentary, narrative and indigenous language.

All submissions will be uploaded onto the KKIFF website.

Applications for all of the submissions mentioned close on April 30.

The committee is also looking for submissions for the DOCS+ screenings at KKIFF 2015. DOCS+ is a platform for filmmakers in the ASEAN region to screen recently completed works, both feature-length and shorts, including documentaries and other types of movies. Submissions close on March 15 (for information to be included in the KKIFF programme booklet) and April 30.

The Sabah Film Academy has two awards of RM1,000 each that are being sponsored by Sabah Cultural Board. The Rolling10 Filmmakers’ Competition has three Golden Kinabalu Awards, one each for documentary, narrative and indigenous language. The Golden Kinabalu Awards for documentary and narrative are being sponsored by Kopi Cap Kuda, together with cash prizes of RM2,000.

The Golden Kinabalu Award for Indigenous Language is being sponsored by the Kadazandusun Language Foundation and will also come with a cash prize of RM2,000.

Information about these four opportunities for filmmakers and other activities included in the KKIFF 2015 can be found on KKIFF website: www.kkiff.com.

Meanwhile, Kopi Cap Kuda director Yap Cheen Boon, who is sponsoring the Golden Kinabalu Awards for documentary and narrative, said his company chose to sponsor in the spirit of encouraging local talents, being a local company itself.

“We believe in the talents that Sabah has to offer and it is time that local companies step up to support programmes such as this, which provides a platform for local talents to be discovered,” he said.