FreedomFilmFest2009 was in Kuching for the second time last weekend! FFF2009, which was launch Friday night at KINGWOOD INN this year saw regulars from last year and newcomers alike to watch the series of documentaries KOMAS has to offer throughout the weekend.

We were also lucky to have one of the cyclists from the JERIT campaign to be with us on Saturday night during the premier of the FreedomFilmFest2009 winners! Not only that, filmmaker Hillary Chiew was also present to facilitate the discussion after the screening of her film Delaying Justice which touches on various local issues based in Sarawak.

We would like to thank everyone who turn up for FreedomFilmFest2009 and we hope to see you next year again!

FreedomFilmFest2009 will be screened in JOHOR BAHRU next weekend from Oct 30 – Nov 1 2009.

Presenting 23 heart-moving, eye-opening, award-winning human rights documentaries from Malaysia and around the world, over 3 days in 4 states.

30 OCTOBER-1 NOVEMBER, Tropical Inn, Johor Bharu

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR?

LAUNCH CEREMONY & OPENING FILM (Friday, 8 pm)

The 6th FreedomFilmFest2009 will be launched with the screening of AT STAKE, a brave and eye-opening documentary tackling taboo issues faced by Indonesian women. This anthology covers issues of female genital mutilation, unmarried women’s experiences at the gynecologist, prostitution, and the sexuality of a migrant worker.

PREMIERE OF FFF2009 WINNING FILMS! (Saturday, 8pm)

Al-Fatehah Memali by Rahmat Haron
This film 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.

Kayuh by Soh Sook Hwa
This film is a first-hand account of a 100-strong contingent of cyclists in the JERIT cycling campaign 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.

No Silver Lining: The Perak Crisis by The S-ploited.
What happens when “frogs” jump over to the other side? In Perak, when 3 elected representatives of the Pakatan Rakyat ‘hopped” over to become BN friendly, it started a political wrestling match for power between the two opposing political alliance.

* Entry is FREE but strictly by invitation only as it is a closed-door private event.

For inquiries and reservations of passes, please email freedomfilmfest@komas.org or call 017-3749887, with the following information:

1. FULL NAME
2. HP NUMBER
3. EMAIL
4. TITLE OF FILM
5. AMOUNT OF PASSES NEEDED

For full listing and schedule please click HERE.

Disclaimer:
Selection of films and program of the festival are the sole responsibility of the organising committee of the FreedomFilmFest. The venue providers are not involved in this process of selection and cannot be held accountable.

The FreedomFilmFest2009 Winning films will be screened as part of the ARA Music Fest Vol 2 this weekend!

Date: 23 October 2009
Time: Midnight!
Venue: BUKIT KIARA EQUESTRIAN CLUB

KOMAS’s latest feature film, GADOH will also be screened the next day!

Date: 24 October 2009
Time: Midnight!
Venue: BUKIT KIARA EQUESTRIAN CLUB

For more details, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=182238470030

Source: The Star Online

A gutsy film festival shows how we can create a better world with nothing more than a cheap video camera, a computer and some dedication.

WHAT does the privatisation of our water supply have to do with Perak’s political controversies? How does possible poisoning from a gold mine in Raub relate to big oil palm companies grabbing land from the Ibans of Sarawak?

They all come together in the Freedom Film Fest (FFF) 2009, a showcase of “social documentaries” now into its sixth year in Malaysia.

To read the rest of the article, please click HERE.

Source: The Star, 18 October 2009.

Please note that the venue for the Kuching leg of FreedomFilmFest2009 has been changed to Kingwood Inn Kuching.

For map, please click HERE.

For enquiries, please call 019 – 438 3706.

The Penang leg of FreedomFilmFest2009 was held at Han Chiang College over three days last week. Groups of locals be it FFF regulars and new fans dropped by throughout the day to watch the films we had to offer as well as participate in our discussions after.

On Saturday night, all three winners of the Justin Louis Award for FreedomFilmFest2009 also made an appearance for the premier of their films in Penang! These includes the winner of the Most Outstanding Human Rights Documentary Award Soh Sook Hwa and most of the JERIT team who are based in Penang. Senator Muhamad Yusof Husin also made a special appearance for the premier of the film Memali in Penang.

Each of the winners together with their guests had a Q&A and a sharing session with the audiences after the screening of their respective films. This is when unanswered questions in the documentaries are probed and more background stories are given personally to the audiences!

The KOMAS team would like to thank everyone who came for FreedomFilmFest2009 as well as to those who supported us from afar!

Stay tune next week for updates from KUCHING at KINGWOOD INN!

2009

Please click thumbnails for clearer view.

*All rights are reserved to the respective press publications.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com

FreedomFilmFest has indeed grown over the years. The 6th FreedomFilmFest was launched on Friday with the screening of AT STAKE to a full house!

Although many familiar faces were spotted among the crowd, the number of people who attended over the course of 3-days was close to a thousand, if not more. The Annexe Gallery was in a constant buzz of activity throughout the weekend even after the screenings at the end of the day.

FreedomFilmFest2009 not only showcased never before seen eye-opening and award winning documentaries, but also highlighted activities by various other NGOs working in Malaysia for equality, justice, and human rights. Among the many booths available throughout the 3-day festival includes the Voter Registration Booth by the Anak Bangsa Malaysia initiative, Gerai Orang Asli, SUARAM and Seksualiti Merdeka, among many others.

Not forgetting also the photo exhibition by PERMAS, an urban’s poor organisation in Malaysia which displayed images of the community’s initiatives, and an exhibition of the current situation in Burma by Amnesty International. These exhibitions certainty helped the audience in understand better the issues highlighted in a few of the documentaries screened throughout our festival.

The main highlight of the annual FreedomFilmFest was of course the Premiere of the Winning FFF2009 films on Saturday. The screenings, which was held simultaneously in two-packed-screening halls featured a live interactive discussion among the audiences in both room. This was followed by a rousing performance by singer-songwriters & activists Meor, Black and their friends.

During the awards ceremony after the film premier, the three winners of the FFF2009 Film Proposal Competition Rahmat Haron, Khaizan Sharizad and Soh Sook Hwa each received the Justin Louis Award to commemorate the completion of the production of their documentary with commentaries from FFF2009 Judges Haris Ibrahim and Fiona Lawson-Baker. Not only that, the announcement of the winner of the FFF2009 Best Completed Film Competition was made, whereby winner Thilaga Sulathireh received RM2,000 for her submitted documentary Peace Cyanide Hill.

Soh Sook Hwa’s documentary KAYUH was announced as The Most Outstanding Human Rights Documentary among the three FFF2009 Film Proposal Competition winners.

The NEXT SCREENINGS of the FFF2009 Winning Documentaries will be at Han Chiang College, Penang from October 9 – 11 next weekend. Please click HERE for full schedule.

COMMUNITY VIDEO TO EMPOWER THE PEOPLE!

by Tan Jo Hann, KOMAS Executive Director & Community Video Facilitator

The message was clear that in “Community Video”, the emphasis is on “community“, and video is the tool. This message was being echoed throughout the community video forum organised by KOMAS. The half day event was a special highlight prelude to the official launching of the KOMAS Freedom film festival on October 2nd 2009 in Kuala Lumpur.

The event provided a platform for community video activists from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand to share about their experiences in using social videos with the communities they are working with. The content portrayed in the simple but creative films moved the participants of the forum to seriously reflect about video as a tool for social transformation.

From Indonesia, PPSW (Centre for Women’s Resources Development ), PEKKA (Program for Women Headed Households), KAWAN NUSA (Bali), and KAMPUNG HALAMAN (Indonesia Youth Community Media) screened their short films and share about how they were used to raise awareness and prompt communities to take action in addressing their community issues.

From South Thailand, a short video slide show was shared about the worsening conflict situation in South Thailand. It was presented through the use of a very powerful and emotionally charged poem read by a young girl with visual inserts of photographs of the desperate living conditions of the people there.

FFF2009 host Pusat KOMAS and their partner communities also shared their experiences in using different forms of community videos in their work among the Orang Asli (Indigenous peoples); to promote voter and citizenship education in Sarawak and among resident association in different local councils in Malaysia.

The 60 over participants also had opportunities to dialogue and to share about their own experiences in using the video medium in their social transformation work with different communities of people.

At the end of the day, the message was clear that video is merely a tool for the community facilitator and organiser to raise awareness, conduct collective planning and motivate people towards action! Without this element video becomes merely entertainment, and will not affect changes in the lives of the communities.

(If you are interested in learning how you can use community video processes for social change, please contact Mr. Prakkash, Community Video Coordinator, KOMAS, Tel: 03-79685415, or Email: prakkash@komas.org)

Do catch the next FreedomFilmFest2009 Screenings at Han Chiang College, PENANG from 9-11th October 2009. For full schedule, please click HERE.