KKIFF starts 2022 with the Sabah Film Lab

Learning about lighting on the training course

The past two years have been difficult for a lot of people, including those in the tourism industry. But a group of tour guides have used the time productively to improve their filmmaking skills. This will help them create better quality films for their online guided tours. These are part of an initiative by the Sabah Tourism Board to widen the world’s exposure to all that Sabah can offer tourists through a greater online presence.

The two teams of participants on the Sabah Film Lab ranged in age from the mid-20s to the mid-60s – but they were all young as far as filmmaking went! They worked in two groups to make two short films. One was about the tamu in Donggongon, written and directed by Roland Ng, and the other was about megaliths in the Penampang area, written and directed by Ben Duncan. Both of them are experienced tour guides and so they also starred as the presenters in their movies. As the Patron of the KKIFF, Datuk Adeline Leong, commented after watching the tamu film that she really wanted to go back to the tamu in Donggongon again!

On the right, Guest of Honour, Dr Markus Litz, Director Goethe-Institut Malaysia; on the left, Datuk Adeline Leong, Chairperson, IDS Institute of Development Studies Sabah & Patron KKIFF

The course was run by trainers from Siung Films and they are all locally based. They discovered that no matter what the age of the participants, there was an eagerness to learn, to ask questions and to have a lot of fun at the same time. The participants appreciated the training they received, which was partly through zoom and partly face-to-face and covered pre-production, production and post-production.

The month-long course was interrupted by the covid situation in February, in particular, but the finished films had their premiere screening at the Closing Ceremony held on Monday, 28 March. The guest of honour was Dr Markus Litz, Director of the Goethe-Institut Malaysia, who came from KL to join the event. It was through the Goethe-Institut that the KKIFF was awarded a grant from the International Relief Fund 2021. It was because of this grant that the KKIFF could run the Sabah Film Lab and also provide the camera equipment and computers that the participants used to shoot and edit their films.

SFL participants with Dr Markus Litz, Director Goethe-Institut Malaysia (5th from right) and Datuk Adeline Leong (4th from right)

The two short films were reviewed by Mr Mark Overett and Ms Rebekah Evans from JMC Academy in Brisbane. Mark joined the Closing Ceremony by zoom and was very enthusiastic about the films. In pre-recorded comments that he and Rebekah made, he said that they ‘really loved’ the movies and congratulated the participants on their ‘terrific work’. He also pointed out the value of short training courses such as the one the participants had just finished, saying that they will have got ‘knowledge that you can apply immediately’ whether they were making films using the latest equipment or handphones. Mark looks forward to continuing the relationship between JMC Academy and the KKIFF which began about three years ago.

The participants on this Sabah Film Lab had made short films to put on-line before, but they found that there was a lot for them to learn from the course. Roland joked that he was a changed person because of the course and could only watch movies now from a technical point of view – noting the use of B roll and the kinds of shots that were being used.

The KKIFF is delighted to have started 2022 with such a successful Sabah Film Lab. We hope to run more filmmaking courses throughout this year. We are also planning for the KKIFF 2022 from 17-25 September. You can follow the KKIFF on facebook and learn more about it from the website: kkiff.com.