IN the spirit of supporting the country's creative industry, Telekom Malaysia (TM), via its foundation Yayasan TM (YTM), has organised its first short film competition.
Titled Young Filmmaker 2021, the competition aims to provide opportunities for young and budding filmmakers to showcase their creative ideas and talent, and enhance their potential in professional filmmaking.
Divided into two categories — students and the public — the Young Filmmaker 2021 offers a RM25,000 prize to nine winners.
The competition is open to participants aged 18 to 35 and winners will also be chosen for the Best Film, People's Choice and Best Director awards.
Featuring the theme "Return Stronger", the competition is organised by Strada Films Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Digital Perak Corporation Holdings (Digital Perak) and Multimedia University (MMU).
Together with the competition, there is a three-month programme featuring a host of other partners, who will be providing the digital content of knowledge sharing, live events and masterclasses.
Emerging and professional content creators may submit their short film entries in line with the featured theme before the closing date of Dec 31.
"As a purpose-driven social impact based foundation, YTM is committed to human capital development and we have unveiled yet another digital platform to unleash budding talent in the creative industry — particularly filmmaking in Malaysia," said YTM director Izlyn Ramli at the virtual launch of Young Filmmaker 2021 recently.
"The Young Filmmaker 2021 is a collaborative effort that we hope will further empower them in digital content creation.
"This is in line with TM Group's unique role as the enabler of 'Digital Malaysia' and at YTM, we are focusing on three strengthened branches, namely education, community and national development, and tourism, culture and heritage.
"This initiative is part of our third pillar, connecting the dots between youth, talent and creativity to skills development and digital opportunities."
Talking about the theme, she added: "Despite the challenges we faced as a nation during this Covid-19 pandemic, there are countless stories, experiences and events that have inspired us.
"The theme Return Stronger welcomes and celebrates those uplifting stories around us that will give the young filmmakers the freedom to express their creativity based on life and humanity which, hopefully in turn, will touch and inspire the audience.
"We also like to thank all our partners, and especially our esteemed judges, for their invaluable time and commitment to make this the best experience for all participants," she said.
The short film competition will feature a panel of professional judges comprising established film directors and producers, such as Ghaz Abu Bakar, Eyra Rahman, Vimala Perumal, Khir Rahman, Aziz M. Osman, Jason Chong, Nik Amir, Razaisyam Rashid and Azhari Zain.
YTM has also collaborated with the Malaysian Cinematic Auteurs Guild (MCAG) to provide opportunities for young talents to maximise their potential in filmmaking.
The Best Director award winner will be selected as a finalist for the Rahsia Sutradara Programme by MCAG under the Malaysia Creative Capabilities Enhancement Programme (MyCAP).
The winner will have a chance to be mentored by a panel of distinguished film directors to produce a fully sponsored film worth up to RM1.2 million.
This collaboration will further broaden the young filmmakers' horizons from short films to full-fledged movies.
"This is a golden opportunity for those with a creative passion to showcase their talent and gain experience and skills in the process as well.
"It's definitely a door and a step to go places so I encourage everyone interested to give it a go," said Strada Films Sdn Bhd's chief executive officer Mohamad Azlan Norani.
Award-winning filmmaker and competition judge Aziz M. Osman echoed Azlan's sentiment to seize the opportunity.
"When I was young, I was peeved on why people did not produce great films. So, I went out and learnt from scratch on how to do things. I wish I had something like this back then.
"Angry people still exist today and now, with social media, people have a platform to criticise and comment on things like movies.
"So why not put that energy to good use and go for it? You've got nothing to lose," he said.
The Fenomena, XX Ray and Leftenan Adnan director added: "There will be various programmes like workshops and online forums organised during the time frame as well, so take advantage of them and learn as much as you can and prove yourself."
The virtual launch event was also attended by the National Film Development Corporation chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid, Digital Perak chief executive officer Meor Rezal Fitri Meor Redwan, Khir who is also MCAG president and Ghaz who is also Digital Creative Content Creators Associations Malaysia president.
For more information about the competition and the schedule of workshops and masterclasses, visit www.youngfilmmaker.com.my.
