A sum of 120 entries have been received for the top awards in the sixth release of the Asean International Film Festival and Awards (AIFFA 2023) that will be held in the Sarawak capital from August 2 to 4 this year.

State Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Sebastian Ting said today the response from filmmakers from the  10 Asean nations has been encouraging, adding that he still expects more entries later.

He said the entries will be shortlisted to between 30 and 40 by a team of international jurors led by Malaysian film maker and producer U-Wei Shaari after three stages of judging.

“They will watch the screening of the entries and then decide which entries will go into the final round, and then name the winners,” Ting told reporters after chairing the first meeting of the AIFFA organising committee here.

He said entries are for films produced and screened in 2020 to 2022, including 20 from Malaysia.

“Anwar: The Untold Story is not among the entries received by the organising committee as it is only screened this year,” he said referring to the biography of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when he became Finance Minister from 1991 until he was sacked from the federal government in 1998.

Ting said most of the entries are from the Philippines and Indonesia. He said the entries were in various languages but are required to have English subtitles for the jurors to judge.

He said the shortlisted film screenings will be held at the Old Court House Auditorium, adding that there will also be AIFFA 2023 exhibition booths from SMEs, FINAS and other film associations and partners at the same venue.

He said the awards include Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director of Photography, Best Film Editing, Best Picture-Action, Best Picture-Comedy and Best Screenplay. He said the awards will also be for the Asian Inspiration, Life Achievement, Asean Spirit and Special Jury.

Ting said the names of the winners of the various awards will be announced and presented during the AIFFA 2023 Gala night on August 4.

Apart from U-Wei, the other jurors include Ihsan Nurullah Kabil of Turkey, Viva Westi of Indonesia, Pham Thi Hong Anh of Vietnam and Effendi Mazlan of Malaysia.

Ting urged those who are interested in Asean movies to watch the screening at the Old Court House Auditorium and have the opportunity to meet the cast and crew of these Asean films.

“A special one-and-half-day workshop on documentary films and screenings will also take place at the same venue,” he said, adding that the special programme is to provide an opportunity for the locals to know more about the production of documentaries.

The biennial AIFFA competition is for filmmakers, actors and actresses from 10 Asean countries.