KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 — Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFEST) and Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) have announced the movies that will be screened as well as the movies that will compete at the inaugural film festival and awards ceremony. After eight months of preparation, the first Malaysia International Film Festival and Malaysia Golden Global Awards are finally just around the corner, said Chairman of MIFFEST & MGGA Ms. Joanne Goh at the press conference recently. Adding that the committee has less than three weeks to go before the big day, Goh hopes that the event will be a memorable one for everyone who participates. The movies chosen for MIFFEST and MGGA include both local and international titles. The opening film will be Germany’s Timm Thaler and the closing film will be Japanese drama film Harmonium by Koji Fukada. Malaysia’s very own Interchange, directed by Dain Said, will be going up against the likes of Apprentice (Singapore), Singing in Graveyards (Malaysia / Philippines) and The Wailing (Korea) at this year’s MGGA. The aforementioned three titles will also be part of MIFFEST Screening Competition Films section, which will screen all eighteen movies competing for the MGGA Best Film. MIFFEST will also hold a Special Screening section for three movies: After This Our Exile (Hong Kong), Blind Way (China) and Redha (Malaysia).
Apart from the movie announcement, the various categories for MGGA were also revealed. The nominees are:
Best New Director
Bradley Liew, Singing in Graveyards
Chu Hsien-Che, White Ant
Zhang Dalei, The Summer is Gone
Wu Chung-Tien, One Night Only
Boo Junfeng, Apprentice
Best Screenplay
Maren Ade, Toni Erdmann
Midi Z, The Road to Mandalay
Lam Wing Sum, Li Yuan, Xu Yi-Meng, Wu Nan, Soulmate
Khyentse Norbu, Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait
Na Hong-Jin, The Wailing
Paul Laverty, I, Daniel Blake
Asghar Farhadi, The Salesman
Ren Peng, Lee Yuyu, One Night Only
Chu Hsien-che, White Ant
Troy Espiritu, Ma’ Rosa
Zhang Dalei, The Summer is Gone
Paolo Genovese, Filippo Bologna, Paolo Costella, Paola Mammini, Rolando Ravello, Perfect Strangers
Redza Mihat, Dain Said, Interchange
Boo Junfeng, Apprentice
Florence Chan, Mad World
Liu Zhen Yun, I Am Not Madame Bovary
Bradley Liew, Bianca Balbuen, Singing in Graveyards
Lo Yiu Fai, Happiness
Best Cinematography
Benoit Soler, Apprentice
Charlie Lam, One Night Only
Fabrizio Lucci, Perfect Strangers
Hong Kyung-pyo, The Wailing
Hossein Jafarian, The Salesman
Jake Pollock, Jing-Ping Yu, Soulmate
Jigme Tenzing, Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait
Jordan Chiam, Interchange
Kenny Tse, Happiness
Larry Manda, Singing in Graveyards
Lei Heng, White Ant
Lu Songye, The Summer is Gone
Odyssey Flores, Ma’ Rosa
Pan Luo, I Am Not Madame Bovary
Patrick Orth, Toni Erdmann
Paul Laverty, I, Daniel Blake
Tom Fan, The Road to Mandalay
Zhang Ying, Mad World
Best Director
Maren Ade, Toni Erdmann
Midi Z, The Road to Mandalay
Brillante Mendoza, Ma’ Rosa
Feng Xiaogang, I Am Not Madame Bovary
Na Hong-Jin, The Wailing
Best Actor
Kai Ko, The Road to Mandalay
Aaron Kwok, One Night Only
Eric Tsang, Mad World
Kwak Do Won, The Wailing
Shahab Hosseini, The Salesman
Best Actress
Kara Wai, Happiness
Zhou Dong Yu, Soulmate
Wu Ke-xi, The Road to Mandalay
Jaclyn Jose, Ma’ Rosa
Sandra Huller, Toni Erdmann
Best Film
Apprentice (Singapore)
Happiness (Hong Kong)
Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait (Bhutan / Hong Kong)
I Am Not Madame Bovary (China)
I, Daniel Blake (United Kingdom)
Interchange (Malaysia)
Ma’ Rosa (Philippines)
Mad World (Hong Kong)
One Night Only (China)
Perfect Strangers (Italy)
Singing in Graveyards (Malaysia / Philippines)
Soulmate (Hong Kong)
The Road to Mandalay (Taiwan)
The Salesman (Iran / France)
The Summer is Gone (China)
The Wailing (Korea)
Toni Erdmann (Germany)
White Ant (Taiwan)
There are also two Special Awards whose recipients have yet to be announced: Lifetime Achievement In Films Award and Friends of Malaysia In Film Award. Another category, The Audience Choice Awards, will be voted for by moviegoers, who only have to drop their ticket stubs in the voting box after watching the movies in participating cinemas. Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFEST) will run from 28 February until 4 March 2017 at NU Sentral Shopping Centre. Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) will be held on 5 March 2017 at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting. — CinemaOnline