KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF) 2016 will be screening its CINEBALU and World Movies for the first time at MBO Imago Mall from July 8, to July 15.
KKIFF director, Jude Day said that this will provide the best possible screening experience for both the audience and for the filmmakers whose movies are being shown.
“Film festivals bring together a range of movies that are not usually seen in cinemas, and in this way, they help to create an audience and therefore a market.
“The KKIFF aims to educate the audience to become more discerning and educated about film, cinematography and script-writing.
“MBO Cinemas believes in connecting audiences and having their cinema locations as centres of education too. This makes the KKIFF and MBO Cinemas a great match, and we look forward to many more KKIFF’s together at MBO Imago Mall,” she told a press conference at MBO Cinemas at Imago Mall here yesterday.
Meanwhile, MBO operations director, Mariam Yazmin El Bacha said that MBO Cinemas is extremely excited to be part of the KKIFF for the first time.
“We see it as an opportunity to connect with cultures and the art of cinema from around the world. This is a great match with MBO’s vision of bringing excitement to the community in KK.
“MBO wants to connect with the local community, bringing exciting initiatives, products and services to all our MBO locations, so that local cinema patrons can feel that we are part of the world of entertainment and the magic of movies,” she said.
The collaboration with KKIFF 2016 is the first for MBO, and Mariam said that the company is willing to continue to be part of KKIFF in the future.
According to Jude, The KKIFF 2016 will be opening and closing this year’s film festival with movies made in Malaysia. She said that ‘Jagat/Brutal’ which is a movie made by Shanjhey Kumar Perumal that is partially autobiography and set in the Peninsula, will be opening the festival on Friday, July 8.
“The story is about a 12-year-old boy living in a poor family. His father wants him to do well at school so that he can get out of the poverty they are in, while the boy watches his uncles who are finding their own ways of dealing with their situation in life.
“The KKIFF movie screenings will close on Friday, July 15 with ‘Nota/Note’, a psychological thriller shot almost completely in Bako National Park, Sarawak.
“The film is centered on a failing relationship between a husband and wife. Their trip to Bako is an attempt to rekindle their earlier love but that is not what happens,” she added.
Jagat and Nota, Jude said, are part of the CINEBALU programme in the KKIFF which is a platform for directors from South-east Asia to screen their films.
“We have a dynamic range of feature-length films and short from Philippines, Myanmar, and Malaysia. “Of particular interest to people in KK is a documentary called The Heart of Gaya Street, which is about the history, changes and future of Gaya Street, based on interviews with some of the characters who have lived and worked there for over 50 years.
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