SeaShorts Film Festival Returns with an Online Run for 20212 min read

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Bringing Southeast Asian cinema to the fore, the annual SeaShorts Film Festival is returning online from 25 August to 2 September with cinematic and cultural programs, exclusively on seashorts.org.

SeaShorts aims to showcase Southeast Asia’s stories and culture through the lens of emerging filmmaking talents and cinema from the region. This year’s festival-goers can look forward to a wide range of curated programmes including forums, workshops, and masterclasses. These programmes will be taught and facilitated by esteemed filmmakers from all over Southeast Asia, and in partnership with Golden Harvest Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and Image Forum.

Apart from the programmes to look forward to, 20 shortlisted films out of 438 submissions from 8 countries will be chosen as contenders for the SeaShorts Award. Lending their prowess, the 2021 jury who will be choosing the winning film includes producer and film festival programmer Raymond Phathanavirangoon (Thailand), producer Meiske Taurisia (Indonesia), director Phan Dang Di (Vietnam), playwright and poet Alfian Sa’at (Singapore), and artist and illustrator Sonny Liew (Malaysia/Singapore). The lucky winner will be taking home awards sponsored by brands like Aputure, Zoom, and Deity, as well as a cash prize from Da Huang Pictures.

“Despite the ongoing pandemic, Southeast Asian shorts still manage to thrive, with many of the works selected at SeaShorts having come from some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals,” said jury member Raymond Phathanavirangoon. “That said, SeaShorts has also been the place to discover new, previously unsung talents, and those are exactly what I am looking forward to discovering this year.”

“Southeast Asia is a region of such diversity and complexity, and I have always felt that short films offer us an invaluable glimpse into the lives of our neighbours. They are entries in both an encyclopedia and a family album—capable of both producing knowledge and fostering intimacies,” added fellow jury member Alfian Sa’at.

This year’s SeaShorts Film Festival is made possible with the support of The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL), Da Huang Pictures, Sinema, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, Ministry of Culture of Taiwan (Republic of China), Yayasan Sime Darby, Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur and Embassy of France in Malaysia.

Festival passes will be available for purchase through this link. For more information on this year’s Seashorts Film Festival, visit its website seashorts.org or facebook.com/seashortsmy.