Winners KHAIZAN SHARIZAD binti. ABD RAZAK, RAHMAT HARON & SOH SOOK HWA are almost done with their documentaries!

The respective teams are in the process of editing their documentaries after spending the past few months researching and interviewing profiles on the issues they’re working on.

Do watch out this space for trailers of the documentaries!

Freedom Of Information
by Faisal Mustaffa
2009 | 15mins |English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

This documentary consists of interviews of victims as well as activists who strive for freedom of expression and information in Malaysia. Book banning, media control and discriminatory judgments are some of the issues that are taken up in this documentary.

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Flow
by Irena Salina
2008 | 84mins | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century – The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply and introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, and begs the question “CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?”

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Water
by Dominic Allen
2008 | 50secs | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

A public service announcement on bottled water.

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Delaying Justice
by Hillary Chiew
2009 | 30mins | English

Indigenous communities which are experiencing land grabs for all sorts of development projects, particularly logging and plantations, are turning to the court for justice. However, this inevitable road is often bumpy and strewn with further anxieties, intimidations and potentially fatal.

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Orang Asli Youth in The Moment
by Lesly Leon Lee
2009 | 40mins | Bahasa Malaysia with English subtitles

The Filmmaker went on a short journey amongst the orang asli youth of the Mah Meri, Temuan and Jakun tribe to learn about how they view ambition, dreams and work. The film hopes to evoke the question of who we are, where we came from, and where are we heading to.

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Carbon Connection
by Fenceline Films and Community Training & Development Unit
2009 | 40mins | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

The Carbon Connection follows the story of two groups of people from each community who learned to use video cameras and made their own films about living with the impacts of the carbon market. From mental health issues in Scotland to the loss of medicinal plants in Brazil, the communities discover the connections they have with each other.

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Peace Cyanide Hill
by Thilaga Sulathireh

2009 | 30mins | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

Bukit Koman, situated in the heart of Raub in Pahang was once known to be the “gold capital” via the promising extraction of gold. In 2009, the gold mining company and its allies decided to extract the remaining gold, this time allegedly with the use of cyanide. Fearing for their lives and health, the villagers have lodged dissent against the alleged use of cyanide. Despite these concerns, the corporation, government and legal system have thus far ignored the pleas of the desperate villagers.

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Prisoners of a White God
by Steve Tichtag
2008 | 51mins | Czech Republic with English & Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

A Czech researcher Tomáš Ryška spent nearly two years in Thai and Laosen mountains in order to search for causes of wrongdoing and violence that is done to the Akhas and their children. This dramatic documentary investigates the reality and change experience by a small mountain ethnic tribe.

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In Conversation with Suzy
by Hazuan Hashim / Phil Maxwell
2008 | 8mins | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

This short documentary follows the life and thoughts of Suzy, a transgender living in Malaysia.

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Jihad For Love
by Parvez Sharma
2008 | 80 mins | Arabic/Urdu/French etc. with English & Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

In Western media, the concept of ‘jihad’ is often narrowly equated with “war”. But Jihad also has a deeper meaning. It literally means ‘struggle’ or ‘to strive in the path of God’. In this documentary, we meet several characters engaged in their personal Jihad for love. Their pursuit of love has brought them into conflict with their countries, families, and even themselves. Such is the struggle of being both homosexual and Muslim, a reality of a minority that is so taboo that very little about it has been documented. The documentary captures different perspectives in an atmosphere of healthy debate and dialogue.

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Kongsi Dalam Gelap
by Melissa Saila
2007 | 12mins | Bahasa Malaysia with English subtitles

What happens when two people are trapped together in a unit? Bare confessions and truth meet two strangers sharing the same fate. Where are they? Will their newfound mission take off? All to be answered in the DARK.

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Hide and Seek
by Lim Hendry
2009 | 10 mins | Burmese with Bahasa Malaysia and English subtitles

This is a documentary about Burmese refugees in Malaysia where they share their painful, courageous life experiences and hopes for the future.

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Half Social, Half Individual
by Mohammad Reza Shams
2008 | 3mins | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

This short art film explores the concept of democracy using colors as a base of exploration and expressions of individuality and unity.

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8760 Jam Pasca 8 Mac
by Ahmad Mukhlis Bashah / Fariz Zainudin
2009 | 27mins | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

There is hope now for Malaysia. We ‘rakyat’ wanted change. A progressive and democratic society among others, we wanted a new political culture, where feudalism, corruption, nepotism, hypocrisy and double standards are done away with once and for all. In other words, we wanted our ‘broken democracy fixed’.

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Di Bawah Langit
by Fiqtriey-al Haqimiey
2009 | 20mins | Bahasa Malaysia with English subtitles

How does an urban poor community successfully withstand 5 demolitions and 3 years of endless harassment from various local authorities and developer? The people of Kg. Berembang in Ampang, Selangor, tells their gritty struggle in claiming their right and aspirations.

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Why Democracy is Better?
by Mat Blackwell
2007 | 2mins | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

A short animation film on the irony of governments and power.

I Am Muslim Too! Heading To The Border
by Zan Lee
2009 | 65mins | English

Zan Azlee is a Malay Muslim documentary filmmaker living in Kuala Lumpur. Being a lazy cook, he often has his meals in the many Thai/Kelantanese food stalls known as Tom Yam Kung stalls. While eating dinner one day, he remembers a news report saying that the South Thailand insurgency in Patani was mainly supported financially by Tom Yam Kung stalls in Malaysia (the Thai military government made the claim but the Malaysian government says it is absurd). The news story amused him and seeing that the people in South Thailand are Malay Muslims just like himself, he decides to pack up his video camera and head on up to South Thailand to see what is going on there.

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Burma VJ
by Anders Østergaard
2008 | 85mins | Burmese with English & Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country. The film offers a unique insight into high-risk journalism and dissidence in a police state, while at the same time providing a thorough documentation of the historical and dramatic days of September 2007 that gave the world iconic images of Buddhist monks marching.

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All That You Can’t Leave Behind
by By Choon Hiong Ho
2009 | 28mins | English with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles

John Moe is an ordinary Burmese national who left his home country in search of a better life. He ended up living and working in Singapore for over eleven years. Little did he and a few other Burmese realize that their future became irrevocably altered when they decided to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in Singapore for a series of peaceful protests and activities against the Burmese military Junta.

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Al-Fatehah Memali
by Rahmat Haron
2009 | 30mins | Bahasa Malaysia with English subtitles

Recipient of FFF2009 Justin Louis Award:

Al-Fatehah Memali portrays the journey of singer-songwriters, Black and Meor, trying to comprehend a massacre that happened in 1985 in Kg. Memali, Kedah. Their journey brings them to the village where they meet survivors and witnesses of the tragedy to uncover a forgotten story of injustice for most of Malaysia, but one forever etched in the hearts of those in Memali.

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No Silver Lining: The Perak Crisis
by The S-ploited
2009 | 20mins | Bahasa Malaysia with English subtitles

Recipient of FFF2009 Justin Louis Award:

What happens when “frogs” jump over to the other side? In Perak, when 3 elected representatives of the Pakatan Rakyat ‘hopped” over to become Barisan Nasional friendly, it started a political wrestling match for power between the two opposing political alliance. No Silver Lining seeks to make sense of the issue, and the aspirations of the people of Perak.

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Kayuh
by Soh Sook Hwa
2009 | 30mins | Bahasa Malaysia with English subtitles

Recipient of FFF2009 Justin Louis Award:

Kayuh 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. The filmmaker, a participant in the cycling campaign herself, attempts to put a human face to the 6 demands contained in a memorandum that was handed over to the Parliament at the end of the journey.

At Stake

by Iwan Setiawan & Muhammad Ichsan / Lucky Kuswandi / Ucu Agustin / Ani Ema Susanti
2008 | 106mins | Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles

Produced by Nia Dinata, “At Stake” is a documentary anthology of four stories by five directors on politics and discourse about women in Indonesia. Topics explored include the practice of women circumcision in Indonesia, another observes two women serving sex at night on the hard surface of Chinese graveyards while hammering rocks during the day to make ends meet. Another film sees three unmarried women who try to get treatment for their reproductive issues, and the last film focuses on two migrant workers in Hong Kong facing different dilemmas: Rutiwat must choose between staying a virgin or damaging her health, and Rianti ponders the possibility of coming out of the closet when she is back in Indonesia.

At Stake

by Iwan Setiawan & Muhammad Ichsan / Lucky Kuswandi / Ucu Agustin / Ani Ema Susanti

2008 | 106mins | Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles

Produced by Nia Dinata, “At Stake” is a documentary anthology of four stories by five directors on politics and discourse about women in Indonesia. Topics explored include the practice of women circumcision in Indonesia, another observes two women serving sex at night on the hard surface of Chinese graveyards while hammering rocks during the day to make ends meet. Another film sees three unmarried women who try to get treatment for their reproductive issues, and the last film focuses on two migrant workers in Hong Kong facing different dilemmas: Rutiwat must choose between staying a virgin or damaging her health, and Rianti ponders the possibility of coming out of the closet when she is back in Indonesia.

Ticket booking will be available from 16 September 2010.

The synopsis and trailers of the films to be screened will be available September 16 2010 onwards.

Full schedule will be available from 16 September 2010.

Hello everyone!

FreedomFilmFest2009 is currently looking for volunteers to help us out in the following areas:

1) Translations: We need assistance to translate subtitles (Bahasa Malaysia to English, English to Bahasa Malaysia)

2) Screenings: We also need a team of people to assist us in making FreedomFilmFest possible in October!

If you’re interested, please drop an email at freedomfilmfest@komas.org with your FULL NAME and CONTACT number.