BEFF SUARA COMMUNITY FILMS PREMIERE IN SANDAKAN

Participants spend the weekend sharing stories and learning the narrative process during the first workshop of the year in March

SANDAKAN: Indigenous and rural community-made short films under the Suara community filmmaking programme will premiere here at 11^th Floor of Harbour Mall Sandakan this Nov 16.

The Suara filmmaking initiative is Borneo Eco Film Festival’s (BEFF) flagship programme, engaging rural and indigenous communities to tell their stories in their own voice through the narrative of film.

“Through thematic and intensive workshops helmed by leading industry from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, Suara Community filmmakers learn to harness the power of images and sound to tell the stories about their communities, experiences, the environments around them and worldviews related to Borneo’s biocultural heritage,” said Melissa Leong, BEFF’s Programme Director.

***On the field, developing their production and technical skills under the guidance of professional filmmakers.***

Among the communities involved are those hailing from Semporna, Kinabatangan, Lahad Datu, Beluran, Pulau Sebatik, Pulau Omadal as well as Long Belok, Sarawak.

Communities attend four main workshops throughout the year, namely on storytelling, production, editing and the final editing and 4-day intensive workshop before premiering their films at the end of the year.

“This year, we decided to return to Sandakan, to where it all began 9 years ago. We invite everyone to the premiere of our Suara films at the Harbour Mall this Saturday, 7:00pm.

Admission is free,” Melissa added.BEFF’s goals are to ‘Educate’ through new knowledge on ecological and cultural issues; ‘Expose’ through environmental films that stimulate discussion; and ‘Engage’ storytellers through a platform for community filmmaking.

BEFF is also the only Southeast Asian member of the Green Film Network (GFN), joining the ranks of prestigious and established environmental film festivals including Cinemambiente (Italy), DCEFF (USA), Cinema Planeta (Mexico) and Planet in Focus (Canada).

Organised by the voluntary society, Melapi (Society for Holistic Outreach, Research and Environmental Action), BEFF is support by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah, Yayasan Hasanah, GEF-Small Grants Programme (SGP) implemented by UNDP, Movies That Matter (MtM) and Shared Earth Foundation.