Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival is back

The Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIF) is back with promises to be the best film festival in the ASEAN region, to build up, nurture and present young talented film directors.

The KKIFF will be held in Kota Kinabalu from May 31 to June 11, 2015.

The application phase for the Sabah Film Academy will take place from May 31, 2015 – June 7, 2015. The 10 selected Malaysia participants will work in two teams with four mentors from Germany, France, the USA and the ASEAN region.

Meanwhile, applications for the Sabah Pitching Training & Awards programme will be held on June 5 – June 6. Anyone within the ASEAN region can apply with a new documentary film project.

These can be feature-length (60 minutes plus) or shorts (up to 15 minutes). The 10 selected projects can be represented at the KKIFF by two people each who will receive training in making pitches before pitching to a panel who will award RM20,000 in grants to help get three of the projects started. Applications close on 30 April.

KKIFF is also calling for film submissions for 2015. There are three categories for submissions: documentary, narrative and indigenous language. All submissions will be uploaded onto the KKIFF website. The deadline for submissions is 30 April.

Filmmakers are also invited to submit their films for the DOCS+ screenings at the KKIFF 2015. DOCS+ is a platform for filmmakers in the ASEAN region to screen recently completed works, both feature-length and shorts, including documentaries and other types of movies. Submissions close on 15 March and 30 April.

The Sabah Film Academy will be given out two awards of RM1000 each that are being sponsored by the Sabah Cultural Board. The Rolling10 Filmmakers’ Competition has three Golden Kinabalu Awards, one each for documentary, narrative and indigenous language.

The Golden Kinabalu Awards for documentary and narrative are being sponsored by Kopi Cap Kuda, together with cash prizes of RM2000. The Golden Kinabalu Award for Indigenous Language is being sponsored by the Kadazandusun Language Foundation and will also come with a cash prize of RM2000.

For more information, please visit http://www.kkiff.com

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