UNITAR Mini Film Festival

Student of Appreciation of Film (KAB1011) for the first time ever will be organizing the UNITAR Mini Film Festival in Kelana Jaya Study Centre. The main objective of the festival is to highlight the importance of film as an agent of change in the society and to expose the campus communities to the new and old quality movies in the market. All of you are invited to join the event.

The details Of the event as stated below:-

DATE: 13th & 14th April 2005 (Wednesday & Thursday)

EVENT / VENUE
The Exhibition
Time: 9:00am
Date: 13th & 14th April
Venue: Student Lobby, Ground Floor, Blok B, UNITAR Kelana Jaya

Film Forum with Yasmin Ahmad, Hassan Muthalib and Afdlin Shauki
Topic: "FILM - Between Aspiration & Popularity"
Date: 13th April
Time: 11:30am
Venue: Student Lobby, Ground Floor, Blok B, UNITAR Kelana Jaya

FILM SCREENING
Date: 13th & 14 April
Venue: Block B, Level 4, KLJ2, UNITAR Kelana Jaya.

Film Screening Venue
Date: 13-4-2005 (Wednesday)
Room : TR 29
1.00 pm Duck Soup
2.30 pm Sepet

Room : TR 30
1.00 pm Seven Samurai
4.30 pm Neon

Room : TR 31
1.00 pm Berlari Ke Langit
4.00 pm The Pianist

Room : TR 32
1.00 pm Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
4.00 pm The Shutter

Date: 14-4-2005 (Thursday)
Room : TR 29
12.30 pm City of God

Room : TR 30
12.30 pm Buli

Room : TR 31
12.30 pm Sepet

Room : TR 32
12.30 pm The Shutter

GUEST
Yasmin Ahmad : blog
Yasmin Ahmad is a well known director of commercial advertisements (the award winning Petronas Advertisements) and one of the indie director that starts the renaissance of Malaysian films. Currently an Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett Advertising Sdn. Bhd. She has wrote and directed one TV movie, Rabun and a feature film, Sepet. Rabun was in competition of The 21st Torino Film Festival in Italy and participated The 16th Singapore International Film Festival and the 5th Cinemaya Festival of Asian Films in India.

Hassan Muthalib
Hassan Abd. Muthalib is a scriptwriter, film director, animator, and lecturer in film and animation. He is the facilitator of The Film Forum of Kuala Lumpur which frequently presents paper on film. His works in animation is vast and experienced. Prominently in the animation shorts for Filem Negara (Sang Kancil & Monyet, Sang Kancil & Buaya, documentary of public awareness), the first animation on TV (Lat animated in a Raya programme slot), and wrote and directed the first animation feature in Malaysia (Silat Lagenda). Among the awards he has won are Best Idea for an Anti-Drug Campaign filmlet (his first live action film which he also directed), Best Trailer for the Fit Malaysia campaign, Best Visual Effects for Mat Gelap, the first local feature film to include animated characters & a Best Documentary Jury Award for his first documentary, The Cane (Asia-Pacific Film Festival, Jakarta).

Afdlin Shauki : blog
Afdlin Shauki is a well known artist of Malaysia. A great comedian, actor, singer,
songwriter and host. He has acted in numerous local and international films such as
Anna And The King, Mimpi Moon, Soal Hati, Soalnya Siapa?, Gerak Khas The Movie II, City Sharks and Buli. The box-office Buli, a film Afdlin Shauki wrote and directed has brought him an accolade of awards, such as Best Story, Best Screenplay and Best New Director of the Year at the 17th Malaysian Film Festival.

Invited Guests Artist:
1. AC Mizal & Amelia
2. Sazzy (BeatTV)
3. Ruffedge
4. V.E

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THE FILM

Duck Soup

Year:1933
Country: USA
Directed by: Leo Mc Carey
Cast: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Edmund Breese
Running time: 68min
Language: English

Synopsis: Prime Minister Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) of Freedonia declares war on neighboring Sylvania just for the hell of it. The Marx Brother's most sustained bit of insanity, a flop when first released, but now considered a satiric masterpiece. A mix of war satire, fantasy and slapstick comedy.

Reviews/Critics:
"A comic masterpiece that improves with each viewing." ,David Parkinson, Empire Magazine.
"The Marx Brothers created a body of work in which individual films are like slices from the whole, but Duck Soup (1933) is probably the best.", Roger Ebert.

Date: 13th April
Venue: TR29
Time: 1:00pm

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Shutter

Year: 2004
Country: Thailand
Directed by: Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom
Cast: Ananda Everingham, Natthaweeranuch Thongmee, Achita Sikamana, Achita Wuthinounsurasit
Running time: 97min
Language: Thai

Synopsis: The horror begins when Thun (Ananda Everingham), a young photographer and his girlfriend, Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee) accidentally crash into a woman by the street while driving a car. They decide to leave the dead woman and drive away. Later, Thun discovers an unexplained event when he finds a mysterious shadow appears on his photo. He thinks that's just a bad picture, but then he realizes there's something more behind the shadow -- the shadow shows as the shape of the face that's familiar to the dead woman. Now, the couple gradually find out a terrible connection between the shadow and the photo.

Reviews/Critics:
".....this is certainly a good horror movie I have seen..."....Ivan Chia (Lehlioman)..Hong Kong film star.

Date: 13th April
Venue: TR32
Time: 4:00pm

Date: 14th April
Venue: TR32
Time: 12:30pm

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Seven Samurai

Year: 1954
Country: Japan
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Yoshi Inaba, Keiko Tsushima, Daisuke Kat.
Running time: 202min
Language: Japanese with English subtitle

Synopsis: Classic film about 16th Century Japanese village which hires professional
warriors to fend off bandits. Kurosawa has served as model for many films since,
including American remake The Magnificent Seven. Impressive for its humanity as well as its powerful action sequence.

Awards/Festival:
-Winner Silver Lion - Venice Film Festival 1954
-No. 9 of IMDB Top 250 Movie

Reviews/Critics:
"Rich in detail, vivid in characterization, leisurely in exposition, this 207-minute epic is bravura filmmaking.", J. Hoberman.
"Akira Kurosawa's 'The Seven Samurai is not only a great film in its own right, but the source of a genre that would flow through the rest of the century.", Roger Ebert.
"The archetypal action classic.", Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News.

Date: 13th April
Venue: TR30
Time: 1:00pm

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The Pianist

Year: 2002
Country: Poland
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Ed Stoppard
Running time: 150min
Language: English with Chinese subtitle

Synopsis: A brilliant pianist, a Polish Jew, witnesses the restrictions Nazis place on Jews in the Polish capital, from restricted access to the building of the Warsaw ghetto. As his family is rounded up to be shipped off to the Nazi labor camps, he escapes deportation and eludes capture by living in the ruins of Warsaw.

Awards/Festival:
-Winner Director, Winner Best Actor, Winner Best Adapted Screenplay - Academy Award 2003
-Winner Best Film, David Lean Award for Director - BAFTA Awards 2003
-Winner Best Film - Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2002
-Winner Golden Palm - Cannes Film Festival 2002
-Winner Millieur Film - Cesar Awards 2003

Reviews/Critics:
"...rivals Schindler's List in terms of detailing the experiences of Jews during WWII.", Laura Bushell, BBC.
"A portrait of hell so shattering it's impossible to shake.", Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.

Date: 13th April
Venue: TR31
Time: 4:00pm

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Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

Year: 1988
Country: Italy
Directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore
Cast: Philippe Noiret, Antonella Attili, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi,
Running time: 170min
Language: Italian with English subtitle

Synopsis: A young boy is mesmerized by the movie theater in his small Italian town (in the years following WW2), and pursues a friendship with its crusty but warmhearted projectionist. Captivating, bittersweet film, with a perfect finale.

Awards/Festival:
-Winner Best Foreign Film - Academy Awards 1990
-Winner Best Film not in the English Language - BAFTA 1991
-Winner Grand Prize of the Jury - Cannes Film Festival 1989
-Winner Special Prize of the Jury - European Film Awards 1989
-Winner Best Foreign Language Film - Golden Globe 1990

Reviews/Critics:
"Captivating, bittersweet film, with a perfect finale", Leonard Maltin.
"...anyone who loves movies is likely to love Cinema Paradiso...", Roger Egbert

Date: 13th April
Venue: TR32
Time: 1:00pm

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City of God

Year: 2002
Country: Brazil
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Matheus Nachtergaele, Alice Braga, Seu Jorge
Running time: 130min
Language: Portuguese with English Subtitle

Synopsis: Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer. There are films that capture the zeitgeist perfectly; there are films that give a peek at the world to come. Meirelles City of God does both with aplomb.

Awards/Festival:
-Winner Audience Award - AFI Fest 2002
-Winner ABC Trophy - ABC Cinematography Award 2003
-Winner Best Foreign Film - British Independent Film Awards 2003
-Winner of 7 Cinema Brazil Grand Prize - Cinema Brazil Grand Prize 2003
-Winner Best Foreign Language Film - New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2003
-Winner Visions Award of Special Citation - Toronto International Film Festival 2002

Reviews/Critics:
"A visual and aural feast...", Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune
"Easily the best gangster flick since Goodfellas.", Bob Longino, Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
"Cinema doesn't get more exhilarating than this.", Nev Pierce, BBC

Date: 14th April
Venue: TR29
Time: 12:30pm

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Sepet

Year: 2005
Country: Malaysia
Directed by: Yasmin Ahmad
Cast: Sharifah Amani, Ng Choo Seong, Harith Iskandar, Ida Nerina, Adibah Noor, Tan Mei Ling, Thor Kah Hoong, Linus Chung
Running time: 110min
Language: Malay, English, Chinese with English Subtitle

Synopsis: 19-year-old Ah Loong is in charge of a stall selling pirated VCDs. Contrary to what you might expect of someone from his social standing, Ah Loong is an incurable romantic with an unlikely hobby - he likes to read and write poetry. Quite content to carry on being the Romeo of the slums, Ah Loong's life takes a pleasant turn when 16-year-old Malay schoolgirl arrives at his stall in search of Hong Kong films. This is the uncensored; director's cut to be showed first time to the general audience.

Awards/Festival:
-Official Selection - The Barcelona Asian Film Festival 2005
-In Competition - San Francisco International Film Festival 2005
-Winner Best ASEAN Feature Film - Malaysian Video Awards 2004
-Le Grand Prix du Jury at The Creteil International of Women's Film France 2005

Reviews/Critics:
"Sepet is never 'short sighted'", A. Wahab Hamzah, Utusan Malaysia.
"Breaking barriers..The beauty of Yasmin's movie is that the story, like Datuk Lat's Town Boy before it, presents us a narrative of hope", S. B. Toh, The Star.
"Sepet is created out of sincerity and true to its word until the last scene", sultanmuzaffar, sultanmuzaffar.blogspot.com.
"For a great film, even though the story is ending, the audience would still be glued on the seat, as if wating for more charms and continuation from the end credit. This is what one felt when watching Sepet", Suraiya Mohd Nor, Berita Harian.

Date: 13th April
Venue: TR29
Time: 2:30pm

Date: 14th April
Venue: TR31
Time: 12:30pm

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Buli

Year: 2004
Country: Malaysia
Directed by: Afdlin Shauki
Cast: Afdlin Shauki, Nasha Aziz, Ako Mustafa, Hans Isaac, Sharifah Shahira, Hattan,
Patrick Teo
Running time: 120min
Language: Malay

Synopsis: Nordin, a man with low self-esteem who is constantly bullied by a guy named Roy ever since they were in school. Now that he's all grown up and working as a software designer in a big company, Nordin thinks his bullying problems are all over. He starts to build more confidence in himself, until in walks the suave and dashing Roy. This film brings forward the emergence of new wave comedy in Malaysia and has one of the best opening in Malaysian Cinema history.

Awards/Festival:
-Winner Silver Award - Malaysian Video Awards 2004
-Winner Best Original Story, Best Screenplay, Special Honor for New Director - Malaysian Film Festival 2004

Reviews/Critics:
"This is the funniest Malay Language film after Pendekar Bujang Lapok I've ever seen for quite a long time!", Yasmin Ahmad, director of Sepet.
"Buli is a witty comedy that does not try to fool the audience...a honest work and a good one too..", Nizam Zakaria, Kakiseni.com.
"A film with depth, and the emergence of changing style of Malaysian movies that need attention..", Kamal, Filem Kita
"Two thumbs up to Mr. Shauki for a job well-done.", Alita Suraya, Cinema Online.

Date: 14th April
Venue: TR30
Time: 12:30pm

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Neon

Year: 2004
Country: Malaysia
Directed by: Mohamed Feroz Abdul Kader Sahib
Cast: Faizal Yusup, Erik Fuzi, Saiful Apek, Rita Rudaini, Fauziah Nawi
Running time: 120min
Language: Malay

Synopsis: A film structured in one night about a loser who takes a journey through the violent and living world of Kuala Lumpur nightlife to search his self worth. A Great film debut by the young director, almost perfect cast and new form of film storytelling on the reality of fate and destiny among Malaysian mainstream films.

Reviews/Critics:
"I could say that this is the best telemovie I've ever seen", Kamal, Filem Kita
"A film to be seen...a good depiction of destiny and the twist of fate ", fadz, tontonfilem

Date: 13th April
Venue: TR30
Time: 4:30pm

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Berlari Ke Langit

Year: 2004
Country: Malaysia
Directed by: Badaruddin Hj. Azmi
Cast: Rosyam Nor, Fasha Sandha, Danial Hazly, Hasnul Rahmat
Running time: 130min
Language: Malay

Synopsis: Indra, an outcast from a fishing village has just return from death. His sudden appearance has alerted a lot of people in the village, mostly his lover Zulhijjah. Yasmin, the new school teacher of Indra's brother has taken likeness in Indra. As time seems running towards Indra, Indra must understand his existence of living and worth from the people that loves him. A very personal film from the director, full of emotional intense and heartbreaking moments, and poetic in its image. An exceptionally beautiful crafted film.

Awards/Festival:
-Winner Best Cinematography - 49th Asian Pacific Film Festival
-Winner Best Child Acting "Danial Hazly", Nominated Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay - Malaysian Film Festival 2004
-Winner Best Malay Usage in Film - Anugerah Citra Wangsa 2004

Reviews/Critics:
"...this "Fenomena" of today is as refreshing as freshly squeezed orange juice on a late Sunday morning.", Alita Suraya, Cinema Online
"..A film that should be applauded for depicting the life of people who are usually forgotten...a poetic and beautiful film.", A. Wahab Hamzah, Utusan Malaysia.
"A film with charm with great casts..", fadz, tontonfilem

Date: 13th April
Venue: TR31
Time: 1:00pm

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The entry is FREE and there will be some refreshment and souvenir.

Any inquiry, please email to Helisuriani bt. Muda at ub0410309(at)mail.unitar.edu.my.

"THROUGH FILM WE EDUCATE"

Notes: extracted from UNITAR Email Announcement.