Friday, October 30, 2009

Nov 1st screening: `Denias-Senandung di Atas Awan'



Halo folks,

After not receiving suggestion for screening titles I look into the titles suggested in the past and found an Indonesian gem whose screening should be overdue! It is highly relevant to screen it in view of the concern and interests over indigenous people in our region eg on how a student need to walk 1 day to the nearest school-as is the story of this film `Denias-Senandung atas Awan'-a good Indonesian production about Papua New Guinea, which should resonate with people who are concerned about the similar fate of Penans and other similar communities in Malaysia. For me it is also a film of choice since I just met a group of Penans from the Baram area while in Sarawak. They live in remote areas where traveling along logging roads tell stories of rape of school girls, murder of anti-logging Tuai Rumah, lack of birth certificates and thus Mycard, voting rights etc.So come to watch this gem from among the films loaned to us by Kris Gan at least 1 year ago!


Details of the films are here:

Title: Denias-Senandung di Atas Awan
Directed by John de Rantau
Produced by Hartawan, Wiwid Setya, Ari Sihasale , Nia Zulkarnaen
Written by Jeremias Nyangoen , Masree Ruliat
Cinematography Yudi Datau
Distributed by Alenia Pictures
Release date(s) October 19, 2006
Running time 110 minutes
Country Indonesia
Language Indonesian

We will also screen a short (11min) video of long house folks in Sri Aman, Sarawak-the 1st installment of videos which I will do about Sarawak along the tour that I am conducting to that long neglected part of Malaysia.

We specially welcome new members from the screenings at Freedom Film Fest in Penang from Oct 9th-11th.

Ong BK

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Catch a glimpse of the 3 winners of FFF 2009 competition

Star on line did a interview with each of the 3 winners of the Freedom Film Fest 2009 competition here. Congrat to all winners! Enjoy.

Please book your tickets early to avoid dissappointment! Booking number: 017-3749887. Booking by email: freedomfilmfest@komas.org

For full program go here. The following is a video on FFF in KL:



Ong BK

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

FFF 2009 is coming to Penang Oct 9th-11th!



Catch the
FreedomFilmFest2009
Presenting 23 heart-moving, eye-opening, award-winning human rights documentaries from Malaysia and around the world, over 3 days in 4 states.

2-4 OCTOBER 2009, The Annexe, Central Market KL
9-11 OCTOBER 2009, Han Chiang College, Penang
23-25 OCTOBER, Sek. Men. Chung Hua No.1, Kuching
30 OCTOBER-1 NOVEMBER, Tropical Inn, Johor Bharu


WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR?

COMMUNITY VIDEO FORUM & SCREENINGS (Friday, 3.30-6.30pm) KL only

Community Video Forum & Showcase will be bringing to you a sharing session of experience and video showcase between community filmmakers and activists from Malaysia and around the SEA region who use video for community organising.

*Pre-registration required as seats are limited. Priority to NGO and community activists.

LAUNCH CEREMONY & OPENING FILM (Friday, 8 pm)

The 6th FreedomFilmFest2009 will be launched with the screening of AT STAKE, a brave and eye-opening documentary tackling taboo issues faced by Indonesian women. This anthology covers issues of female genital mutilation, unmarried women's experiences at the gynecologist, prostitution, and the sexuality of a migrant worker.

*Producer NIA DINATA, who is the director of the movie “Berbagi Suami” and also a renowned Indonesian feminist will be present in KL for Q&A after the screening.

PREMIERE OF FFF2009 WINNING FILMS! (Saturday, 7pm)



Al-Fatehah Memali by Rahmat Haron
This film portrays the journey of singer-songwriters, Black and Meor, trying to comprehend a massacre that happened in 1985 in Kg. Memali, Kedah. Their journey brings them to the village where they meet survivors and witnesses of the tragedy to uncover a forgotten story of injustice for most of Malaysia, but one forever etched in the hearts of those in Memali.

Kayuh by Soh Sook Hwa
This film is a first-hand account of a 100-strong contingent of cyclists in the JERIT cycling campaign who rode from Alor Setar and Johor Baharu to Kuala Lumpur for 16 days in order to address 6 major concerns of marginalized groups in Malaysia.

No Silver Lining: The Perak Crisis by The S-ploited.
What happens when “frogs” jump over to the other side? In Perak, when 3 elected representatives of the Pakatan Rakyat 'hopped” over to become BN friendly, it started a political wrestling match for power between the two opposing political alliance.


* Entry is FREE but strictly by invitation only as it is a closed-door private event.

For inquiries and reservations of passes - Please email freedomfilmfest@komas.org or call 017-3749887, with the following information:

Name | Contact tel. no and email | Title of film/time of session that you would like to watch | Number of passes needed | In which state (KL, PG, JB, or KUCHING)

For full listing and schedule http://freedomfilmfest.komas.org

Disclaimer:
Selection of films and program of the festival are the sole responsibility of the organising committee of the FreedomFilmFest. The venue providers are not involved in this process of selection and cannot be held accountable.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Next screening: Sept 27th-GUBRA




Halo folks,

We had shown Muhsin in last screening. We can show Gubra ( trailer here) which we had not screened before for next screening on Sept 27th(Sunday) 8.00pm, at D' Space (62 Weld Quay, 3rd floor- see http://penangfilmclub.blogspot.com for a location map) Meanwhile Yasmin Ahmad fans had planned a fest to screen her films in Australia!

For your info we had screened a video of the Bangun Art Fest at Chew Jetty on Sept 13th-including snapshots of the music fest on a fish farm on the sea! If you are interested to have a look let me know to see how to organise another screening.(Altogether about 45min) For some views of the videos go to here.

We call upon all interested members to turn up for a discussion on the preparation of the coming Freedom Film Fest 2009 to be coming to Han Chiang College, Penang next month (likely date: Oct 9th-11th Fri-Sun) at the end of the screening. We need to organise ushers, locate resource persons to lead discussions on various films sessions, and to run an effective promotion in Penang! Looking forward to seeing all of you who are interested to take up the challeneg! You are welcome to call me for inquiries: 013-5900339

cheers,
Ong BK

Saturday, August 1, 2009

The rally against ISA on Sunday-can an idea be arrested?



The rally against ISA in KL will go down in history as one of the historical episode in Malaysia's democratisation. Watch this video to catch a glimpse on what happened.

Ong BK

Monday, July 27, 2009

`Gadoh' stopped by police at Kg Buah Pala's screening



Indie film about ethnic conflict in Malaysia `Gadoh' was stopped by 50 police at a screening at Kg Buah Pala tonite. For report and photos see here. The film's director Brenda Danker (Front left) and producer Anna Har(left most) was around together with about 50 residents when the police turned up at about 8.00pm to stop the screening before it could even get started. The film will continue its screenings at USM on Wed evening. Earlier the film was screened at Penang Film Club on Sunday, where copies of the DVD were sold to some SBs. It is not sure if the sales led the state politicians contacted to say that the film was not approved by FINAS.

The stand off continued till about 11.00pm before both sides dispersed. The century old village is facing eviction notice by Aug 2nd. The eviction would severely test the accountability of the State Government-especially when there are news that the eviction will come under the most intense scrutiny by the country's camerapersons and bloggers!

Ong BK
video

Special screening for Yasmin Ahmad: `Muhsin' on Aug 2nd



halo friends,
As you may already know one of the foremost film maker in Malaysia Yasmin Ahmad has passed away just 2 days ago. She is a film maker of refreshing ideas, especially on the stressed ethnic relation in Malaysia-which naturally aroused debates and controversies from those entrenched ethnic `champions' from all sides. But the recognition of the need to break the unnatural ethnic tension in the country is long over due-a point successfully highlighted and provoked by Yasmin Ahmad's features films as well as her well known and memorable community advertisements. To show our respect and tribute for her accomplishment towards `Bangsa Malaysia' we will show two of her last films at the details below:

Titles: Muhsin(8.00pm), Sepet(9.30pm)
Date: Aug 2nd(Sunday)
venue: D' Space (62 Weld Quay, 3rd floor, above Damacai shop)
Entrance: FREE

We will observe a 1 min silence as a commemoration of the passing of an advocate of `Bangsa Malaysia'-who remind us that film is afterall about making a point, a statement. Let her death serve also as a point to bring all the ethnic communtiies together! If you have any thought about her and the ideas she advocate through her films bring them along to share with all.

Attire: Black or white.

See you there.

Ong BK

Some official scribblings of Yasmin:

Yasmin shone with her works

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 – Yasmin Ahmad left a legacy of her works in the film and advertisement arenas, thriving on the themes of love, family ties and comedy against the backdrop of multiracial Malaysia.

Born in Bukit Treh, Muar, Johor on July 1 1958, Yasmin, who graduated in psychology from Newcastle University, United Kingdom, had won local and international creativity awards.

She began her career as a copywriter with Ogilvy & Mather before joining Leo Burnett as joint creative director in 1993 and rose to become its creative executive director until her death.

She was married to Abdullah Tan Yew Leong.

Her creativity could be seen in many Petronas’ commercials and evoked emotion of the viewers, especially during the Aidilfitri celebration which would certainly be missed by viewers this year.

In the film industry, Yasmin, however, drew much controversy in view of her openness and boldness in analysing social issues.

She has been targeted by critics since her first movie, “Rabun” was screened in 2003 followed by “Sepet” (2004), “Gubra” (2006), “Mukhsin” (2006), “Muallaf” (2008) and Talentime (2009).

But she also earned rave reviews for “Sepet” which won the Best Film Award and the Best Original Screenplay Award at the Malaysian Film Festival 2005. “Sepet” also bagged several international awards, namely the Asian Film Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2005, the Grand Prix Award at the Creteil International Women’s Film Festival in the same year.

“Gubra” won the Best Screenplay award at the Malaysian Film Festival 2006.

“Muhsin” won the Generation kplus – Best Feature Film and the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Grand Prix award at the Berlin International Film Festival. “Mukhsin” also won the Best Asean Film at the Cinemanila International Film Festival 2007.

“Muallaf” won the Asian Film Award – Special Mention at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2008.

While leaving indelible marks at home, Yasmin’s movies gained international recognition as they were shown in Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore and at the Cannes Film Festival. – Bernama