The KKIFF

Facts & Figures

2009

Films

3 from France; attendance not taken

2010

Films

3 from France, 2 from Japan, 2 from Malaysia (independent); attendance = 585

Filmmakers’ Competition

6 entries – all from Sabah; 3 awards; judging and workshop by Malaysian filmmaker – awards to 3 Sabahan filmmakers

2011

Films

2 from France, 3 from Japan, 1 from Malaysia (independent), 1 from Germany; attendance = 507

Filmmakers’ Competition

27 entries – from Malaysia; 3 awards – won by Sabahans; judging and workshop by 2 Malaysian filmmakers

Sabah Film Forum

5 presentations by 4 Malaysian and 1 UK film industry professionals – public discussion about viability of setting up a Sabah-based film industry

2012

Films

2 from France, 1 from Germany and 2 from Japan; attendance = 475 (every night sold out)

Filmmakers’ Competition

41 entries – Malaysia, including Germany, India and Finland – judging and workshop by 2 Malaysia film industry professionals; 3 awards – 2 won by Malaysians, 1 won by Finnish filmmaker

Sabah Film Forum

5 workshops by Malaysian industry professionals; attendance = 79

Asian Director Spotlight

Malaysian premiere of a movie by a Filipino director; attendance = 100+

Malaysian Short Film Showcase

21 submissions; 6 selected for screening; moderation by Malaysian film industry professional; attendance = 40+

2013

Films

1 each from France, Japan, Germany, USA (2 screenings) and Romania; attendance = 620

Filmmakers’ Competition

51 entries – all from Malaysia; judging and workshop by 2 Malaysian film professionals; 4 awards (including People’s Award) – 3 won by Sabahans

Sabah Film Forum

movies from Sarawak, Czech Republic, KL; 2 presentations by a Malaysian film industry professional; attendance = 273

Asian-Pacific Director Spotlight

Malaysian premiere of a documentary by a Sarawakian filmmaker

Malaysian Short Film Showcase

13 entries; 6 selected for screening; moderated by a Malaysian film industry professional

Sabah Film Academy

Mentors from Malaysia (4), Germany (1), Spain (1), Australia (1); 31 participants – 30 from Sabah; 1 Mentors’ Award won by a Sabahan

2014

Films – DOCS+

feature-length films – 1 from Indonesia, 2 from Malaysia; shorts – 9 from Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Myanmar; attendance = 273

Films – World Movies

1 each from France, Germany, the USA, Romania and Japan; attendance = 450

Filmmakers’ Competition

3 categories; 30 entries; judging and workshop by 1 Malaysian and 1 Malaysian-Australian film industry professional; 7 awards made – 3 won by Sabahans

Sabah Film Forum

4 presentations by 1 Filipino, 1 German director and 1 Malaysia film industry professional; attendance = 339 (+ 200 for Reel Rock 8 – a climbing and adventure film event); screened 1 documentary by a Sabahan-based film company

Director’s Spotlight

Malaysian premiere of a documentary by a German director

Malaysian Short Film Showcase

16 entries; none selected; featured a Malaysian filmmaker; moderated by a Malaysian filmmaker

Sabah Film Academy

4 mentors from Germany, France, USA and Malaysia; 10 participants – all from Sabah; 2 Mentors’ Awards won by Sabahans

Sabah Pitching Forum

2 trainers from Philippines and Germany; 1 tutor from Malaysia-Australia; 5 participants from Malaysia, 1 participant from Philippines; 3 panel members from Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia; 2 awards won by Sabahans

2015

Films – DOCS+

10 movies screened from Indonesia (3), Myanmar (1), Malaysia (3), Brunei (1) and Philippines (2); attendance = 279

Films – World Movies

1 each from Germany, Brazil, Spain, Georgia, Romania, Argentina, Malaysia, France, Colombia and USA; attendance = 338

Filmmakers’ Competition

3 categories; 35 entries (from the ASEAN region); judging and workshop done by 2 Malaysian filmmaking professionals; 8 awards made – 7 won by Malaysians, 4 by Sabahans), 1 by a Thai director

Sabah Film Forum

short films from NZ screened; presentations by 1 Malaysian, 1 New Zealander and 1 American; attendance = 44

Sabah Film Academy

4 mentors from Germany, France, USA and Malaysia; 9 Malaysian participants (1 from West Malaysia); 2 Mentors’ Awards won by Sabahans

Sabah Pitching Training & Awards

2 trainers from Philippines and France; 19 participants with 10 from Malaysia and others from Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar and Philippines; 3 awards – 2 won by Sabahans, 1 won by an Indonesian

2016

Films – CINEBALU

9 movies screened from Malaysia (6), Philippines (2), Myanmar (1); attendance = 328

Films – World Movies

from Spain, USA, Japan, France, Argentina, Sweden, Georgia, Germany and Brazil; attendance = 249

Filmmakers’ Competition

3 categories (indigenous language, narrative and documentary); 26 entries (from the ASEAN region); judging and workshop done by 2 Malaysian filmmaking professionals; 10 awards made – 9 won by Malaysians, 1 by a director from Myanmar

Sabah Film Academy

7 mentors from Germany, Spain, USA, Japan and Malaysia (3); 12 Malaysian participants (2 from West Malaysia); 2 Mentors’ Awards won by Sabahans

Sabah Pitching Training & Awards

1 trainer from Philippines; 15 participants representing 12 new documentary film projects from Philippines (5), Myanmar (2), Singapore (1), Taiwan (1), Malaysia (6) ; 3 awards – 2 won by Filipino filmmakers, 1 by a Sabahan

2017

Films – CINEBALU

18 movies screened from Malaysia (3), Philippines (4), Myanmar (2); Thailand (1); Indonesia (1); Korea (2); Singapore (1); Vietnam (1); Taiwan (1); and Taiwan/Philippines (1) from 41 submissions; attendance = 300

Films – World Movies

from Germany, Denmark, Brazil, Italy, Argentina, France, Georgia, Spain and New Zealand; attendance = 245

Filmmakers’ Competition

3 categories (indigenous language, narrative and documentary); 39 entries (from the ASEAN region – 26 from Malaysia); judging and workshop done by 2 Malaysian filmmaking professionals; 17 awards made – 10 won by Malaysians; others won by directors from Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam

Sabah Film Academy

4 mentors from Germany and Malaysia (3); 14 Malaysian participants (2 from West Malaysia, 4 from Sarawak, 8 from Sabah); 2 Mentors’ Awards; 1 scholarship from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology

2018

Pre-launch Event

of the 10th anniversary of the KKIFF in 2019

2019

Films – CINEBALU

27 movies screened from Malaysia (5), Philippines (3), Singapore (3), 2 from each of Cambodia, Korea, New Zealand, 1 each from Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France, Japan, USA; total attendance = 712; average attendance for each of the 14 screenings = 51

Filmmakers’ Competition

4 categories (indigenous language, narrative, documentary and Malaysia Day); 200+ entries through FilmFreeway; judging and workshop done by 2 Malaysian filmmaking professionals; 13 awards made – 7 won by Malaysians; others won by directors from Indonesia and Philippines

Sabah Filmmaking Course

6 instructors from Germany, New Zealand, Japan and Malaysia (3); 17 Malaysian participants (4 from Sabah); 4 Instructors’ Awards

Sabah Pitching Training & Awards

15 participants – 5 from Malaysia, 10 from Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia; trainer from Australia; three on Pitching Panel; winning pitch offered the opportunity to apply to pitch at Leipzig, with full funding if accepted, and with on-going mentoring from the pitching trainer

Special Series10

a seminar day with 6 sessions programmed by Nadira Ilana ; speakers and panellists included My Creative Ventures, Paula Whetu Jones, Marc Abas, Melissa Leong, Geoffrey Sinn, Mohan Rao, Tony Pietra Arjuna, Wong Tuck Cheong, Hassan Muthalib and Al Jafree Yusop; attendance = 19

2020

Films – CINEBALU ON-Line

36 submissions from 12 countries – 3 one-day programmes available for 5 days to subscribers from South-East Asian countries – including 20 films from Brazil, NZ, Laos, Sabah, Hong Kong, Philippines, Italy, Argentina, Malaysia, Viet Nam, France, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore – 74 registrations

Collaboration

with Freedom Film Network

Webinars

also hosted 5 on-line discussions; 6 moderators; 20 panellists; from 192 to 1.8k views; videos of the webinars are up on the KKIFF facebook page

Other KKIFF activities were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

2021

Numbers of Films & Countries

38 films (8 feature-length; 30 shorts) – from 12 countries (Malaysia, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Germany, Viet Nam, Taiwan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, USA, Argentina)

Registration for CINEBALU On-Line

120

Webinars

4 webinars; 4 moderators & 15 panellists; approximately 69 people participated; Facebook views as of 1/11/21 – Webinar 1 – 306; Webinar 2 – 912; Webinar 3 – 170; Awards Night – 166

Collaboration

Freedom Film Network – provided 4 short films and moderated two webinars; Mini Film Fest (Unimas, Sarawak) – curated a programme of 6 short films, hosted a webinar and worked as co-programmer for the KKIFF

Awards Night

17 October – Zoom10 Filmmakers’ Competition Awards Night – first on-line awards night for the KKIFF – combined pre-recorded speeches, live hosting, reports by Zoom10 judges and Q&A with the three winning directors, as well as the screening of the three winning films

Quizzes

this was a new activity – 2 quiz sessions – 16 pax joined – prizes (book tokens) totalling RM500 were offered by Lit Books in KL

Sponsors

International Relief Fund 2021; Sabah Tourism Board; Goethe-Institut Malaysia; New Zealand High Commission; Embassies of Spain and Argentina

The Sabah Film Lab and Sabah Pitching Training On-Line

were postponed until 2022

2022

CINEBALU Screenings – Cinema Programme

movies from 10 countries; 7 feature-length films, including three from Sabah; 8 shorts on Variety Night from Australia, Singapore (x3), Germany, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia

CINEBALU Screenings – Online Programme

movies from 9 countries – USA, Sarawak (x2), Singapore (x3), Thailand, Sabah (x2), Brazil, Malaysia (x7), Australia, Argentina; including x6 shorts from the Mini Film Fest and x8 nominations from the Filmmakers’ Competition

Movies Screened

Total of 44 movies screened from 13 countries

Awards Night

Cine10 Filmmakers’ Competition Awards Night – 25 October – live-streamed

Quizzes

2 quiz sessions

Webinars

3 webinars; 3 moderators & 12 panellists from Thailand, Singapore, Sarawak, Sabah, USA and New Zealand; 9 of the panellists had films selected for the KKIFF 2022

Streamings

416 people participated in the webinar streamings

Filmmakers

Total of 36 regional filmmakers involved in the KKIFF 2022

Cine10 Filmmakers’ Competition

46 submissions from 4 countries; 2 judges; Golden Kinabalu Awards:  Narrative – Lubin Wong (Malaysia); Documentary – Elvin Jay Macanlalay (Philippines); Indigenous Language – Elvert Bañares (Philippines); Honourable Mention certificates:  3 – Malaysia; 2 – Philippines

2023

Submissions made on FilmFreeway

  • CINEBALU – 50 submissions from 7 countries
  • Go10 Filmmakers’ Competition – 39 submissions from 6 countries

CINEBALU Screenings (23-30 Sept)

  • 21 movies screened – 7 feature-length; 14 shorts from 10 countries
  • Including feature films from New Zealand, Germany and France
  • Countries: NZ, Germany, France, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Singapore, Cambodia, Philippines, Australia, Malaysia (W Malaysia, Sarawak, Sabah)

CINEBALU Attendance

  • Total = 340 people; Average = 42

Sabah Film Lab (24 Sept-1 Oct)

  • 18 participants – 12 Sabahans; 8 from Sarawak and W Malaysia
  • 5 mentors: Imri Nasution, Edwin Raj and Isazaly Isa from Malaysia; Till Passow from Germany and Hata Takeshi from Japan

Sabah Pitching Training (30 Sept-1 Oct)

  • 10 new documentary film projects selected from Myanmar, Philippines (x3), Indonesia, W Malaysia and Sabah (x3)

  • 15 participants attended

  • 1 trainer – Mark Overett from Australia, with Till Passow as a co-trainer

  • Panellists: Simone Baumann (German Films) – on zoom; Ryan Lee (TVS); Edwin Raj (33.3), Till Passow (Germany)

Fringe Events

  • DaVinci Resolve Clinic – 28 Sept – 10am-4.00pm– Isazaly Isa – 70 pax
  • Liat Mana Saja – 29 Sept – 5.00-6.00pm – MIAA students (Brunei) – 5 pax