2009

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KOMAS FREEDOMFILMFEST2009

Kuala Lumpur, Friday, 2nd October – The KOMAS FreedomFilmFest2009 is back once again for the 6th year, screening social and human rights films from Malaysia and around the world, including the premiere of FreedomFilmFest2009 winning documentaries! The annual campaign to promote and highlight socially conscious film-making and films about human rights began today at The Annexe, Central Market.

The annual festival invites members of the public to participate in the festival through a series of captivating film screenings, workshops and engaging open dialogue sessions. This year, KOMAS will be presenting 23 heart-moving, eye-opening, award-winning human rights documentaries, over 3 days in 4 states.

Among the documentaries to look out for is “AT STAKE”, a brave and eye-opening documentary tackling taboo issues faced by Indonesia women. Producer Nia Dinata, who is also the director of the highly acclaimed film “Berbagi Suami” will also be present during the it’s screening at the opening night.

The theme for this year ‘Real Change?’ is to highlight the reawakening of the people’s power ever since the March 8 general elections last year. With this year’s theme, FreedomFilmFest hopes to unearth real stories about ordinary Malaysians and how they perceive the changes happening around them. Among many other films, this is also brought to us with the THREE winners for the annual FreedomFilmFes film proposal competition who will also have their films premiering during the festival.

The films are: ‘No Silver Lining: The Perak Crisis’ by The S-ploited, which tries to comprehend the political crisis which is happening in Perak currently; ‘Al Fatehah Memali’ by Rahmat Haron, which portrays the journey of singer-songwriters, Black and Meor, trying to comprehend a massacre that happened in 1985 in Kg. Memali, Kedah and ‘Kayuh’ by Soh Sook Hwa, which is a first-hand account of a 100-strong contingent of cyclists who rode from Alor Setar and Johor Baharu to Kuala Lumpur for 16 days in order to address 6 major concerns of marginalized groups in Malaysia.

For the past five years, Pusat KOMAS, a Malaysian human rights media center, and also the organizer of FreedomFilmFest, has been promoting social and community films committed to the ideals of human rights, social justice and equality. Through an annual film competition, workshops and screenings, FFF hopes to showcase outstanding films and documentaries focusing on social issues that affect ordinary people like HIV/AIDS, human rights, poverty and the environment usually not featured by the mainstream media.

FreedomFilmFest, which over the years earned a strong reputation for providing an open platform for critical discussions among different sectors of the Malaysian public.

1) THE ANNEXE, CENTRAL MARKET, KUALA LUMPUR: 2 OCT – 4 OCT, 2009
2) HAN CHIANG COLLEGE, PENANG: 9 OCT – 11 OCT, 2009
3) CHUNG HUA MIDDLE SCHOOL 1, JALAN PENDING, KUCHING: 23 OCT – 25 OCT, 2009
4) TROPICAL INN, JOHOR BAHRU: 29 OCT – 1 NOV, 2009

For more information on our festival, please visit www.freedomfilmfest.komas.org

For further inquiries:
Maisarah Muhd Najib, FreedomFilmFest Coordinator,
Tel/Fax: 03-79685415
HP: 017-3749887
Email: freedomfilmfest@komas.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kuala Lumpur, Saturday, 14th February – The FreedomFilmFest (FFF) is in town again! The campaign to promote socially conscious film making and films about human rights in Malaysia is being organized for the 6th year!

KOMAS FreedomFilmFest (FFF) is the first film event of its kind in Malaysia. FFF adopts the themes encompassed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which express our aspirations for genuine justice, peace, equality and democracy.

Through an annual film contest, workshops and screenings, FFF creates an annual showcase of outstanding films and documentaries focusing on social issues that affect ordinary people like HIV/AIDS, human rights, poverty and the environment; alternative films which, due to a lack of commercial backing and because of the tyranny of popular mainstream media, are out of the reach to most Malaysians.

The theme for this year is ‘Real Change?’ is highlight the reawakening of the people’s power ever since the March 8 general elections last year. With this year’s theme, FreedomFilmFest hopes to unearth real stories about ordinary Malaysians and how they perceive the changes happening around them.

For the past five years, FFF has earned a strong reputation for creating an open space for sharing socially engaging media and critical discussions among different sectors of the Malaysian public. Last year, the FFF2008 screened 31 social documentaries and independent films from all over the world in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and Sarawak.

For more information on the competition and tips to write a good proposal, please visit www.freedomfilmfest.komas.org

For further inquiries:

Maisarah Muhd Najib, FreedomFilmFest Coordinator,
Tel/Fax: 03-79685415
Email: freedomfilmfest@komas.org

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE

Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, 12th March – The FreedomFilmFest (freedomfilmfest.komas.org) is now heading to London! The 1st FreedomFilmFest Retrospective LONDON will be held at The Garden Court Chambers, London on the 28th March 2009.

True to the FFF spirit, the screenings of the Malaysian films touching on various social issues at this one day event will be followed by a discussion session. The FreedomFilmFest Retrospective will have four sessions with different themes throughout the day: Democratic Space, Activism and the British Connection, Minority Groups and the Authorities and Prescribed Development. Each session will feature films from the previous FreedomFilmFest winners as well as from other Malaysian film-makers.

This would definitely be a great chance for Malaysians (and friends) in London to catch up on the different issues which have been raised by Malaysian activists over the years.

Tickets would be sold at £5 each.

For more details about the tickets and the FreedomFilmFest, feel free to visit http://freedomfilmfestlondon.blogspot.com or email komaslondon@gmail.com.

For further inquiries:
Maisarah Muhd Najib, FreedomFilmFest Coordinator,
Tel/Fax: 03-79685415
Email: freedomfilmfest@komas.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Calling All Activists & Film Makers!

Kuala Lumpur, Saturday, 14th February – The FreedomFilmFest (FFF)’s Dare 2 Document competition is back!

This annual competition encompasses the spirit of activism through filmmaking and it is the first of its kind to be organised in Malaysia. It has created opportunities for local filmmakers and social activists to use their film making craft to express social concerns and human rights issues.

FreedomFilmFest theme this year – ‘Real Change?’ is to highlight the reawakening of the people’s power ever since the March 8 general elections last year.

The main question playing on most of our minds is whether this political transformation in our country has resulted in real changes to the lives and society of Malaysians. FFF2009 therefore hopes to unearth real stories about ordinary Malaysians and how they perceive the changes happening around them.

This year, FreedomFilmFest will have two categories for submissions. Category A is for the submission of short film proposals and Category B is for the submission of completed films. The proposals or completed films submitted should be related to the theme ‘Real Change?’.

Three of the chosen best film proposals will be awarded a grant of RM5,000 each and supported by KOMAS to transform their proposals into a film. The best chosen completed film will win a cash prize of RM2,000! Finally one of these winning films will be selected as the “Most Outstanding Human Rights Film”.

Winners will also receive the Justin Louis Award and have their films premiere at the FFF2009 screenings to be organized in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and Sarawak in the entire month of October 2009.

For more information on the competition and tips to write a good proposal, please visit www.freedomfilmfest.komas.org

For further inquiries:
Maisarah Muhd Najib, FreedomFilmFest Coordinator,
Tel/Fax: 03-79685415
Email: freedomfilmfest@komas.org

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE

Calling All Activists & Film Makers!

Kuala Lumpur, Saturday, 14th February – The Freedom Film Fest (FFF) is in town again! The campaign to promote socially conscious film making and films about human rights in Malaysia is being organized for the 6th year!

The FFF2009 carries the slogan ‘Dare 2 Document’ adopted since its inception 6 years ago. This annual event encompasses the spirit of activism through filmmaking and it is the first of its kind to be organised in Malaysia. It has created opportunities for local filmmakers and social activists to use their film making craft to express social concerns and human rights issues.

Today’s launching signifies the opening of submissions for the FFF2009 film competition for this year. The logo based on this year’s theme of ‘Real Change?’ is to highlight the reawakening of the people’s power ever since the March 8 general elections last year.

The main question playing on most of our minds is whether this political transformation in our country has resulted in real changes to the lives and society of Malaysians. FFF2009 therefore hopes to unearth real stories about ordinary Malaysians and how they perceive the changes happening around them.

The Launch will signify the opening for submission of film proposals and completed films related to the theme ‘Real Change?’. Three of the chosen best film proposals will be awarded a grant of RM5,000 each and supported by KOMAS to transform their proposals into a film. The best chosen completed film will win a cash prize of RM2,000! Finally one of these winning films will be selected as the “Most Outstanding Human Rights Film”.

Winners will also receive the Justin Louis Award and have their films premiere at the FFF2009 screenings to be organized in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and Sarawak in the entire month of October 2009.

For the past five years, FFF has earned a strong reputation for creating an open space for sharing socially engaging media and critical discussions among different sectors of the Malaysian public. Last year, the FFF2008 screened 31 social documentaries and independent films from all over the world in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and Sarawak.

For more information on the competition and tips to write a good proposal, please visit www.freedomfilmfest.komas.org

For further inquiries:
Maisarah Muhd Najib, FreedomFilmFest Coordinator,
Tel/Fax: 03-79685415
Email: freedomfilmfest@komas.org