photography by: Nadirah Zakariya
Founded in Australia about 20 years ago, Tropfest has evolved to be the world’s largest short film festival. With global screening locations in USA, New Zealand, UAE, and South East Asia for the very first time this year, Whiteboard Journal had the chance to be invited to Penang, Malaysia where this prestigious event was hosted.
Penang’s rich historical background and stunning Peranakan architecture provides a picturesque backdrop for the festival. The event opens up to a small, intimate networking night and a Roughcut symposium the next day. With guests like Oscar-winning director Adam Elliott (Harvie Krumpet), Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde, The Ugly Truth), Glen Goei (That’s The Way I Like It, The Blue Mansion), Gurmit Singh (MediaCorp Artiste), this signature spin-off program saw to plenty of movie industry luminaries discussing and dissecting different aspects of entertainment field. Curators Panel was one particularly interesting program in which it discusses experiences of curating film festivals in different regions of Southeast Asia including Indonesia, represented by Lulu Ratna, a prolific film festival organizer.
The main event happened on Saturday afternoon in the open air of Esplanade with music by local bands, Paperplane Pursuit and Paladin, and a special appearance by the retro Indonesian band, White Shoes & The Couples Company. There were plenty of local businesses setting up stalls in the vicinity, ranging from artisanal food and beverages, clothes, to vintage, antique items. There was also ‘Black Carpet’ to greet and interview the evening’s distinguished participants.
The screening of the 12 finalist films started right around dusk, not long after all the bands finished performing. With contenders from Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia, the film’s main theme ‘Rice’ is explored in various constructive ways. Among few standout shorts were Chicken, The Strange Detective, We Need to Break Up, all from Malaysia, and Moth in Twilight from Philippines. Screened to over 4000 audience and judged live by Adam Elliot, Robert Luketic, Glen Goei, Malaysian actress Sharifah Amani, and the director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Roger Garcia, the grand prize was awarded to Sothea Ines, a Cambodian filmmaker with her black and white, silent film on the ‘Golden Harvest’ period during Khmer Rouge occupation. Second prize went to her fellow Cambodian, Polen Ly, with his film ‘Duetto’ and Ezequial Paolinelli took home the third spot with his film entry for Malaysia, ‘The Last Flight’. The festival ended with awards presentation for each winner and a pre-recorded announcement clip from John Polson, the founder and director of Tropfest, that the theme for Tropfest SEA 2015 is ‘Wheel’.
View the 3 winning films by scrolling through the photography above. For more details on the event and to watch all the films, you can visit http://tropfest.com/sea/
