KUCHING, March 23: Locally produced Malay-Iban language movie ‘Belaban Hidup: Infeksi Zombie’ has won the Best Feature Film category at the 2021 World Film Carnival held in Singapore on March 19.
The movie which was produced and directed by local talent Ray Lee with the script written by his Limbang-born wife, Misha Minut who is also the movie’s co-producer, had 50 per cent of its crew members from Sarawak.
The movie was also nominated for the Best Feature Film category and Best Horror awards at this year’s International Symbolic Art Film Festival (ISAFF) in St Petersburg, Russia.
Praising their achievements, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the movie has proven that local talents can produce full-length films of any genre including fictional and horror which had proven to be among most popular in the global entertainment industry.
“It is a wonderful movie and heartening for us to see that a full feature movie script about Iban warriors battling with zombies for survival can attract so much attention from local viewers and also those in other countries while winning an award in a prestigious international film carnival. It is certainly an amazing feat for local producers.
“We are also proud that the movie had been nominated for the Best Feature Film category and Best Horror Award as it has the potential of winning the hearts of the jurors,” Abdul Karim said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the production team was also nominated at this year’s Los Angeles Marina Del Rey Film Festival (LAMDRFF).
As the movie has the potential of getting more awards in the near future, Abdul Karim said it serves as a good eyeopener to viewers especially those from other countries who will interested in the natural beauty, and unique cultures and ethnicities found in Sarawak which can motivate them to visit the state in the near future.
“We know the movie itself can help us to attract foreigners to come visit Sarawak hopefully after the Covid-19 pandemic is finally over and this is the noble service which the producers had done for our state,” he said.
The movie is currently being screened at various film festivals in USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Canada, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Slovakia, France, Germany, Italy, India, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Argentina, and Puerto Rico.
Read DayakDaily’s interviews in 2019 about the movie with Lee here and Misha here. — DayakDaily
