THE inaugral short film competition organised by Malaysia Airlines dubbed Detik-detik MH Short Film Competition 2010 came to a close on May 21, with the grand prize going to International Islamic University Malaysia’s architecture student, Mohd Afiq Deen Azizan, for his entry Tok Nab’s Guest Room.
The competition (March 1-April 16), directed at college and university students, received 70 entries from over 120 students across 20 local institutions throughout the country.
Thirteen entries were shortlisted and four prizes were handed out – the top three plus the People’s Choice Award which was based on public voting.
The first runner-up went to Teh Tarik? by Ahmad Hadi Abdul Rahman, Tafilah Yusof and Mohd Fahmy Ahmad Fuad of SEGi University College while second-runner up went to LimKokWing University College’s Mohammadreza Shams’ Hidden Face Of Malaysia.
The People’s Choice Award went to Sekampung Sehati by Belinda Yip, Julia Chong and Wong Sie June of Curtin University of Technology (Sarawak campus).
A screening and a prize giving ceremony were held at the Malaysia Airlines Academy in Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, where all the finalists waited for the announcement of the results.
Also present were the judges of the competition comprising Malaysia Airlines Senior General Manager, Communications, Indira Nair, TMI Malaysia CEO George Aveling, and award-winning Malaysian independent filmmakers Tan Chui Mui, Liew Seng Tat and Bahir Yeusuff.
With the exception of The People’s Choice Award winner, the three winning shorts were based on the judging criteria which emphasised storytelling and creativity and the last, on technicality.
The contestants were asked to deliver a three-minute short film based on the theme, Malaysian Hospitality.
The 13 finalists produced a wide variety of shorts with some coming across as extremely professional while others seemed amateurish. The deciphering of the theme varied from comedy, drama, musical, documentary and abstract, even.
It was indeed a surprise to those who were present and watched the 13 shorts when the announcement of the winners was made.
What seemed like the winning shorts did not win. Instead, the entries that did were those unexpected to win. It was in no way controversial, but after speaking to the judges it became clear that the short film competition’s aim was to discover young and talented filmmakers who boasted originality and creativity, within the context of the judging criteria.
Grand prize winner Afiq and his short Tok Nab’s Guest Room has no dialogue and shows a man engrossed in his handphone while a ghost tries to get his attention and succeeds.
“It’s a very funny way of looking at Malaysian hospitality,” said Tan who has won prestigious and international awards for her debut short film A Tree In Tanjung Malim. “It’s not a direct interpretation of the theme and yet it is very clever and you can see Afiq’s potential as a unique and original filmmaker,” she continued.
Fellow judge Liew concurred with Tan’s statement. “Tok Nab’s Guest Room was completely out-of-the-box and this competition is a great platform to show how talented the students are. And the competition was open to all students and not just students who are studying film,” said Liew.
The 22-year-old grand prize winner was “very, very surprised” at the win and said that the reason he made the short was because he had “nothing to do”.
“I was back home in my kampung in Alor Setar and I came across the competition and the ideas came to me in a split second,” said Afiq who has been making home-made films for the last two years and regularly employs his own family to star in them.
Afiq sent in two entries – the other being Jemput which also made it into the top 13 – and said that he will continue making films even after he graduates.
Indira was highly impressed with the number of entries and creativity of the students and said that the MAS short film competition will most likely be an annual event.
“We’re also thinking of opening up the competition to the public and not just students next year,” she said.
The grand prize winner’s short film will be available on MAS’ in-flight entertainment system but Indira noted that it takes six weeks before they are able to upload it. Afiq also won three MAS economy tickets to any destination of his choice.
