These films have all been nominated for awards by the Zoom10 Filmmakers' Competition jury.
Which ones do you think are the Golden Kinabalu Award winners in each category?
| BOJUS THE MASK & THE SPIRIT OF ANCESTORS Malaysia | 2019 | Documentary | 10m Synopsis: The Mah Meri community embraced animism. This community believes in the spirit of ancestors, ghosts and spirits of every creature, such as animals and plants. Respect for the spirit and spirit is manifested through religious festivities aimed at worship and expressing gratitude to the spirits of ancestors and subtle spirits that launch the affairs of life. For the Mah Meri tribe, Mask is a way to translate the spirit or to communicate with the spirit world. Director: Faris |
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| ELSA Singapore | 2019 | Documentary | 8m Synopsis: A 6-year old Staley has a year left to be Disney's Queen Elsa to his heart's content, before formal education starts.  Director: Lim Jen NeeAfter more than 10 years as a Producer/Writer, Jen is shifting over to the director's chair. As Producer, her feature film Truth Be Told won Best Original Film at the Asian Film Featival of Rome 2007, while her narrative web series People Like Us won Best Short TV Drama at the 2016 Independent Television & Film Festivals, Best Web/TV Drama at the 2017 Formosa Festival o International Filmmaker Awards, and Best Supporting Actor 2017 Indie Series Awards. Jen is writing her feature directorial debut, a coming-of-age drama titled A Renunciation and flexing her directing muscles with more short films. Director Statement When my younger child develops self-awareness, he expresses strong identification with the female gender. Like most little girls, he aspires to be Queen Elsa (from Disney's animated film, Frozen.) How do I provide him with the freedom to grow as a person, and yet protect him from the larger Asian society valuing traditionalism and conformity? I reach a truce with my 6-year-old: he will have one year to grow out his hair and be Queen Elsa to his heart's content, but will have to lop it all off on New Year's Day, when he starts formal education, as there are rules to follow. Part drama, part documentary, this film is his journey. Watch Trailer |
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| JUST A CALL AWAY Singapore | 2020 | Documentary | 5m Synopsis: As COVID-19 rages on throughout the world, we've quickly adapted to living our lives virtually to keep connected in these isolating times. In the midst of filling our schedules with home-based productivity, a community sits silently obscured. Unfamiliar with technology and unaccustomed to these sudden changes, the elderly folk in our midst are in danger of being forgotten. For ourselves, we need to look no further than our own grandparents. Have we called them up to check in on them? How often have we done so? Do we know what their days have been like? Listening in on 4 conversations between grandparents and their grandchildren, we see how their lives have changed, or revealingly, how they haven't changed at all.  Director: Jessica HengIs a Singaporean filmmaker interested in telling visceral, humanistic stories that harbour empathy. Her documentary short Koon Seng Road, won the URA Heritage Short Film Award in 2017. Her most recent works include Baby Boy (2020), currently in competition at various short film festivals and Just A Call Away (2020), which clinched champion in the film competition Live Within. She carries a corresponding passion for film criticism, having participated in the Singapore International Film Festival Youth Jury and Critics Program (2017). She has contributed works to the local film publication SINDIE as well as to a SGIFF feature on Rice Media. Watch Trailer (00:34) |
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| SMALL STEPS / MALILIIT NA HAKBANG Philippines | 2020 | Documentary | 7m Synopsis: "Small Steps" tells about a group of kids from the coastal village of San Felipe. Also known as the "You-Kalele Kids", they continuously dream of having a space in the music scene within their individual limitations and challenges. One of their songs, which is the title of this documentary, focuses on saving the environment and their love for nature.  Director: Richard LegaspiWas a filmmaking fellow at the prestigious Asian Film Academy. Since then, his films have been officially selected in different film festivals. In 2013, he received the restigioud UNESCO Laureate scholarship. A two-time Gawad Cultural Center of the Philippines for Alternative Film and Video awardee, 62nd Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature winner in 2012, Gawad Urian nominee in 2013 and 2015, National Commission for Culture and the Arts Competitive (NCCA) grant winner in 2009 and 2012, Cinemalaya 2009 and Cinema One 2012 Film Festivals Jury Prize winner. He also received a script development fund under the FDCP CreatePHFilms 2021. Watch Trailer (00:57) |
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| ANAK SELETAR Malaysia | 2021 | Indigenous Language | 10m Synopsis: Sungai Temon, home to the Seletar People. It houses a dying tribe, one of the three original indigenous tribes of Malaysia. Despite living in one of the most rapidly developing regions in the nation, they remain virtually unknown to the general public. Shy from the public eyes, their way of life is threatened by surrounding development. This documentary captures the life of the tribe through the eyes of the children that run through creeks, find happiness in nature and learn from it.  Director: Firdaus BalamIs an independent filmmaker based in Malaysia. His passion for filmmaking started at an early age as he has aspired to be a film director since young. Anak Seletar is his first attempt at a long-form documentary as he observes the life of an indigenous tribe in the south of Malaysia. Watch Trailer (01:52) |
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| DISAPPEARING VERSES Malaysia (Sabah) | 2020 | Indigenous Language | 7m Synopsis: Their numbers are dwindling, so where do the keepers of the Kadazan Dusun (Sabahan natives) traditions stand in the face of modernisation?  Director: Ricardo UntoIndependent filmmakers Ricardo Unto is a native of Sabah, Malaysia. His works always revolve around the experimentation of production equipment, editing tools and topics. Disappearing Verses is his third film project as director/producer. His stop-motion animation film Bangku/Chair (2016) recounted a community of 'chairs' face by a giant enemy – a ball. The film was shot entirely on a smartphone. Bangku/Chair won third place in the 2016 Sabah Screen Fest. Watch Trailer (03:00) |
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| BOOKANIMA: Dance Republic of Korea | 2020 | Animation | 7m Synopsis: BOOKANIMA, a compound word of 'Book' and 'Anima', is Experimental Animation to give new cinematic life to book. It aims to create 'Book Cinema' in the third scope between Book and Cinema. Animation links Book to Cinema. Along the way, it experiments with Locomotion based on Chronophotography Animation, paying homage to Edward Muybridge and Entienne Jules-Marey. It experiments with the locomotion of Dance along with its stream: Ballet-Korean dance-Modern dance-Jazz dance-Aerial Silk-Tap dance-Aerobic-Disco-Break dance-Hip hop-Social dance.  Director: Shon KimGained a BA in Law at Hanyang University, BFA in Film & Video at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA in Experimental Animation at California Institute of the Arts and PhD in Animation Theory at Ching-Ang University. Shon Kim works in LA. Watch Trailer (03:18) |
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| HERE I AM Malaysia (Sabah) | 2019 | Human rights, children | 6m Synopsis: The Alternative Learning Centre in Lok Urai, Sabah for the stateless kids is bustling with the celebration of Independence Day and Malaysia Day. While waiting for her turn to parade her independence costume, she is facing a dilemma about whether to continue with the competition. Award: BMW Shorties 2019 – Top 10, Best Director  Director: Putri Purama SuguaIs a passionate filmmaker from Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. Her thesis short film entitled Dream To Fly won numerous awards at local and international film festivals. Putri has received many opportunities to develop her filmmaking skills: in the Next New Wave Film Workshop, the Film Leaders incubator organised by the Busan Film Commission of South Korea, where she was acknowledged as the best participant. Putri was then granted a scholarship to attend at Asian Film Academy in South Korea and was a fellow at the 2017 Busan International Film Festival. She has also awarded Best Young Filmmaker at the Malaysian Digital Film Awards. Her short documentary Aku Mau Skola has also been shown around the world: in Seattle, London, Iran and China. Her most recent short film Ruah Ndak Bertanah received Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Pesta Filem Kita 2019. In total, Putri has directed seven short films, five fiction and two documentaries. She is currently working in her debut narrative feature film called Hidup Ak Curi and her feature documentary film Aku. |
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| LOOKING FOR WONG KAR WAI Malaysia | 2020 | Drama | 2m Synopsis: A girl going back to the place where she once bared her all to this boy. She was infatuated with him and he was infatuated by Wong Kar Wai's films. Unfortunately, he left and she was left bitter. She thought if only she went back to the place they once shared together, she'd be able to get rid of him from her memory - from a time when she was happy.  Director: Christopher Ling JingWas born in Sarawak, Malaysia. He is currently in his final year at the Department of Radio and TV in Ming Chuan University, Taiwan. |
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