GEORGE TOWN, Jan 7 — Twelve film-makers — six of whom are Malaysians — have been selected to screen their works for “live” judging at the inaugural Tropfest Southeast Asia on January 25.

The first Asian edition of the world’s largest short film festival received 180 short film entries from nine Southeast Asian countries last year and the 12 finalists were selected by a team of 10 industry experts.

“These films have the potential to inspire not only the Southeast Asian region but the world while affording fledgling film-makers the opportunity to showcase their work and give them an opportunity to tap into the global market,” said Tropfest SEA director Joe Sidek when announcing the 12 finalists.

Of the 12, six are from Malaysia, three from Cambodia, two from the Philippines and one from Thailand.

Bradley Liew from Malaysia is one of the finalists of Tropfest SEA, January 7, 2014. — Picture by K.E. Ooi

The six short films selected from Malaysia are Chicken by Yihwen Chen, Grateful Moment by Sean Kook, Congee by Charlotte Lam and Tan Chee Meng, The Strange Detective by Chan Kean Wah, We Need To Break Up by Bradley Liew and The Last Flight by Ezequiel Paolinello.

Liew, a Malaysian camera operator working in Philippines, drew his inspiration from the close relationship between a four-year-old girl, Juliet, and her 30-year-old aunt.

It only took the 24-year-old one afternoon to shoot the film and another day to edit it.

“The main actress, Sunshine, is a talented Filipino and I noticed the funny interactions she would have with her niece so I thought it would be interesting to capture it on film,” he said.

The other six short films are Laek by Mony Kann Darung from Cambodia, Duetto by Polen Ly from Cambodia, Rice by Ines Sothea from Cambodia, Surprice by Emmanuel Escalona from Philippines, Moth in Twilight by J.E. Tiglao from the Philippines and Rice Border Lover by Supawit Buaket from Thailand.

Cambodian finalist, Ines Sothea, took the plunge and tried her hand as a director even though she has been in the Cambodian film industry as a script writer for two years and was pleasantly surprised that her debut film was selected as one of the finalists.

“I have been wanting to experiment and go into film-making with an hour-long feature so when I heard about Tropfest SEA, I decided to extract a part of the feature to make it a short film,” she said.

Ones Sothea from Cambodia is a finalist of Tropfest SEA, January 7, 2014. — Picture by K.E. Ooi

Her entry is a seven-minute black and white silent film, which depicts the life and death situation during the Khmer Rouge regime more than 40 years ago.

The short films will be screened and judged “live” on the night of the festival by a jury panel that includes the likes of Robert Luketic of Legally Blonde and Monster-in-law fame, Oscar winner Adam Elliot and Palm d’Or-winning Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

The first prizewinner of Tropfest SEA will receive US$10,000 (RM32,850) in cash prizes sponsored by Tropfest SEA and a trip to Los Angeles sponsored by Motion Picture Association (MPA) to meet some leading movie industry leaders.

Tropfest SEA is part of the global Tropfest festival worldwide that spans New York, Abu Dhabi, Sydney and New Plymouth in New Zealand.

The short film competition is open to all citizens and residents of Southeast Asia and will culminate in the free-to-attend festival at Esplanade here.

Tropfest SEA Joe Sidek. — Picture by K.E. Ooi

“It is a celebration of short films, music in support of the culture of storytelling and creativity so I hope it can inspire more Malaysians to go into film-making,” Joe said.

He said he hopes to keep Tropfest SEA in Penang and Malaysia for the next three years before it is held at other Southeast Asian countries.

Tropfest is the world’s largest short film festival, which is also dubbed as the world’s first truly global film festival.

Tropfest started in 1993 with a screening for 200 people in a cafe in Sydney, Australia but has now grown into the largest platform to showcase short films in the world.

The most recent Tropfest Australia, held at the end of last year, attracted an audience of more than 200,000 people.

Tropfest SEA is the festival’s first debut in this region and it will be held at Esplanade here on January 25. The festival starts at 5.30pm.

For more information on the events lined up in conjunction with the festival, go to www.tropfest.com/SEA.