KOTA KINABALU: September is the month of the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF). The festival, which runs from 23rd – 30th September 2023 at the City Cineplex, City Mall Kota Kinabalu, will be screening 7 feature films from six different countries and 14 short films from around Southeast Asia – there’s variety for everyone! You can purchase your tickets online via KKIFF’s official website now for the 8 nights of CINEBALU Screening!
Besides the CINEBALU Screenings, KKIFF also organizes filmmaking programs and competition throughout the festival.
For the past few months, The KKIFF have been extending submission callouts for filmmakers to compete in the Go10 Filmmakers’ Competition. Now that judging has completed, six incredible short films have been shortlisted and nominated for the award.
For the filmmaking programs, the Sabah Film Lab (SFL) which is opened to Malaysian residents only, has attracted a lot of applications. SFL has a total of 21 participants from Sarawak, West Malaysia and Sabah taking part this year. There will be in 4 teams – 2 for narrative and 2 for documentary – working closely with 5 mentors to complete their short films in 8 days, based at Ibis Styles Kota Kinabalu Inanam.
The public can watch all 4 teams’ production at the KKIFF Awards Night on Sunday, 1 st October 2023. The Awards Night which starts at 7.30pm, is free and open to everyone.
Every filmmaker needs to know how to pitch – how to get potential sponsors interested in their film. The Sabah Pitching Training course is open to new documentary film projects from around Southeast Asia and 10 new film projects have been selected for the 2-day training course.
We have 20 participants coming from 4 different countries attending the course in Kota Kinabalu, and will be led by Mark Overett, Head of Film & Television from JMC College, Brisbane. The course runs over two days (30 September – 1 October), with the final pitches on Sunday, 1st October, starting at 1.00pm. This is open to anyone who is interested in coming to see the pitching.
Below are a list of events under the KKIFF 2023; open to public.
23rd – 30th September 2023:
– 8PM daily: CINEBALU Screening, City Cineplex, City Mall KK
1 st October 2023 (Sunday):
– 1PM: Sabah Pitching Training pitches, Ibis Styles KK Inanam
– 7.30PM: KKIFF Awards Night, Grand Ballroom, Hilton Kota Kinabalu
For more information about these events, visit KKIFF’s facebook page and website.
