KUCHING: The Yayasan Perpaduan Sarawak (YPS) would have the final round of voting this Saturday to determine the winner of its ‘Smiles of Unity’ Short-Film competition.
The public can cast votes for their favourite locally produced short-films during the ‘Smiles of Unity’ Short-Film screening to be held on Sept 1 from 7.30pm onwards at Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus.
The two-hour event would showcase three shortlisted entries from the competition which concluded recently.
The three shortlisted films are ‘Si Kuching’, ‘Rojak’ and ‘School Life’.
They were selected from 16 entries submitted by local aspiring filmmakers aged 18 to 35 years.
A press statement issued yesterday said that the grand prize winner of the competition stands to win RM11,000 in cash, whereas the second and third prize winners will receive RM7,000 and RM5,000, respectively.
This is the third and final leg of the ‘Smiles of Unity’ Short-Film Screening after similar events were held in
Sibu and Miri, where a total of 200 votes were cast for the three short-films.
The public attending the previous screenings had nothing but praises for the works of the aspiring young local filmmakers.
“I am glad that everyone from Sibu and Miri enjoyed themselves, and now it is up to the people of Kuching to decide the winner.
“The competition could go down to the wire at this event and we do hope the best film takes home the grand prize,” said Mark Noel Bonchol, secretary to the YPS Board of Trustees in the press statement.
The result of the voting so far has revealed a very close contest among the three shortlisted entries and the upcoming round in Kuching will certainly be crucial.
Apart from the short-films, two foreign short documentaries will also be shown at this screening namely ‘Wayang’, a contribution from the Indonesian Embassy which highlights the iconic shadow puppet theatre; and ‘Chinese Knots’, courtesy of the Chinese Embassy which tells the story of ornamental knots and their symbolism in Chinese society.
As for the result of the public voting, it will be released on the YPS Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/YayasanPerpaduanSarawak) after the screening this Saturday.
The event this Saturday is a bit different compared to the previous two screenings, as only those with valid tickets will be able to attend. Tickets have been given out by the organisers for free and over 300 people are expected to attend.
Meanwhile, the short-film competition and screenings are part of YPS’ ongoing involvement with the community, under the ‘March on for Unity 2012’ calendar of events.
The ‘March on for Unity 2012’ events by YPS are co-organised with Sarawak Development Institute (SDI)
and Faradale Media-M Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Angkatan Zaman Mansang (AZAM) Sarawak.
Other events, such as the Intercultural Youth Forum and ‘Heritage for Unity’ Design Competition, are all gearing
up towards YPS’ largest and most significant event to date; the International Youth Cultural Conference (IYCC) to be held at Sarawak Cultural Village this November.