14th KKIFF – Films, Competition, Training, Pitching!
September is the month of the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF). The festival, which runs from 23rd – 30th September 2023 at the City Cineplex, City Mall Kota Kinabalu, will be screening 7 feature films from six different countries and 14 short films from around Southeast Asia – there’s variety for everyone! You can purchase your tickets online via KKIFF’s official website now for the 8 nights of CINEBALU Screening!
Below are a list of events under the KKIFF 2023; open to public. All info and registration link can be found in www.kkiff.com.
23rd – 30th September 2023: Tickets can be purchased via www.kkiff.com or at the cinema counter
– 8PM daily: CINEBALU Screening, City Cineplex, City Mall KK
24th September 2023, Sunday: In conjunction with Sabah Film Lab (Free & open to everyone)
Venue: Ibis Styles KK Inanam
– 9.30am: Film screening “Howrah, Howrah” and talk by Director, Till Passow (Germany)
– 11am: Film screening “Against This Messy World” and talk by Director, Aw See Wee (Malaysia)
– 1pm: Film screening “Kekasih” and talk by Edwin Raj, Isazaly Isa and Imri Nasution
28 September 2023, Thursday (Free & open to everyone, registration required)
DaVinci Resolve Clinic with Isazaly Isa, Master Trainer DaVinci Resolve
Time: 10am – 4pm
Venue: Level Academy, Aeropod Commercial Square
1st October 2023, Sunday (Free & open to everyone)
– 1pm: Sabah Pitching Training pitching session, Ibis Styles KK Inanam
– 4pm – 5pm: Go10 Filmmakers Competition feedback session with judges Hassan Mutalib & Muzzamer Rahman
– 7.30pm: KKIFF Awards Night, Grand Ballroom, Hilton Kota Kinabalu
Besides the CINEBALU Screenings, KKIFF also organizes filmmaking programs and competition throughout the festival.
For the past few months, The KKIFF have been extending submission callouts for filmmakers to compete in the Go10 Filmmakers’ Competition. Now that judging has completed, six incredible short films have been shortlisted and nominated for the award. You can watch all the films via their website. Who do you think will win the Golden Kinabalu Awards for their respective categories – Narrative, Indigenous Language and Documentary this year?
For the filmmaking programs, the Sabah Film Lab (SFL) which is opened to Malaysian residents only, has attracted a lot of applications. SFL has a total of 21 participants from Sarawak, West Malaysia and Sabah taking part this year. There will be in 4 teams – 2 for narrative and 2 for documentary – working closely with 5 mentors to complete their short films in 8 days, based at Ibis Styles Kota Kinabalu Inanam.
The public can watch all 4 teams’ production at the KKIFF Awards Night on Sunday, 1st October 2023. The Awards Night which starts at 7.30pm, is free and open to everyone.
Every filmmaker needs to know how to pitch – how to get potential sponsors interested in their film. The Sabah Pitching Training course is open to new documentary film projects from around Southeast Asia and 10 new film projects have been selected for the 2-day training course. We have 20 participants coming from 4 different countries attending the course in Kota Kinabalu, and will be led by Mark Overett, Head of Film & Television from JMC College, Brisbane. The course runs over two days (30 September – 1 October), with the final pitches on Sunday, 1st October, starting at 1.00pm. This is open to anyone who is interested in coming to see the pitching.
For more information about these events, visit KKIFF’s facebook page and website.