Preparing for the 6th Malaysian International Film Festival

ABOUT 300 films from 56 countries were screened at the 6th Malaysian International Film Festival (MiFFest) to be held at Lalaport BBCC from 23 to 29 July 2023, Founder and President Joanne Goh announced at a press conference held at the Parkroyal Collection.

Joanna told reporters that out of 300 films submitted, only 40 will be selected to be screened at the festival. The top ten films out of 40 will be selected and the grand winner will be announced during the star-studded Malaysian Golden Global Awards (MGGA) at Zepp Kuala Lumpur on the final day, July 29th.

At the same event, MIFFest announced its partnership with BMW Shorties to create short films, a new creative initiative by BMW Group Malaysia aimed at identifying new talent in film and digital content.

The BMW Shorties competition will officially open for entries on April 1, 2023 and the top prize of the competition will receive RM80,000 in production grants.

Joanne said that this is the first time MIFFest has partnered with BMW Shorties. Participants who submit their short films to the competition this year will have the opportunity to show their films at the festival alongside the best BMW Shorties winners in 2022.

BMW Group Malaysia Managing Director Hans de Visser said in his speech that BMW Shorties thrive by challenging today’s conventional wisdom with creative thinkers who dare to bring tomorrow’s breakthroughs to the present. He also named this year’s theme “Development”.

MIFFest continues its collaboration with the Udine Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Italy, offering special screenings of Malaysian films and exchanges between filmmakers. The two festivals hope to bring new sparks through the East to West concept.

At a press conference, actor Bront Palarae was announced as its ambassador for the fourth time. Bront expressed a sense of honor and gratitude for this position. “We are moving towards building strong relationships with new partners. Hopefully it’s bigger and better than last year,” Bront said.

In addition to the announcement of cooperation, the names of the members of the Board of MMKFest were announced at the press conference. They were: Honorary Chairman Kim Dong Ho; President Joanne Goh; Vice President Ho Hock Dung; MIFFest out-of-competition programmer Datuk Kamil Othman; advisers Aron Koh, Shamin Yusof and Tuan Syed Yahya.

In addition, the names of the selection committee of the 6th MIFFest competition were announced, and souvenirs were presented to sponsors and partners of MIFFest.

After the event, Joanna hoped that the festival would attract local audiences and inspire new filmmakers. “This year, the audience is in for a surprise,” she said. In addition to the indoor cinema, the audience will have a new experience: watching a film in an open-air cinema for the first time since the festival started in 2017.

“We are also shipping our Malaysian film to Italy. This is my mission all the time; help the local industry by introducing local films to an international audience. We are also partnering with Tiktok Malaysia to reach a wider audience,” Joan added.

TikTok Malaysia is the official part of MIFFest. – S. Tamaray Chelvi