FreedomFilmFest has indeed grown over the years. The 6th FreedomFilmFest was launched on Friday with the screening of AT STAKE to a full house!
Although many familiar faces were spotted among the crowd, the number of people who attended over the course of 3-days was close to a thousand, if not more. The Annexe Gallery was in a constant buzz of activity throughout the weekend even after the screenings at the end of the day.
FreedomFilmFest2009 not only showcased never before seen eye-opening and award winning documentaries, but also highlighted activities by various other NGOs working in Malaysia for equality, justice, and human rights. Among the many booths available throughout the 3-day festival includes the Voter Registration Booth by the Anak Bangsa Malaysia initiative, Gerai Orang Asli, SUARAM and Seksualiti Merdeka, among many others.
Not forgetting also the photo exhibition by PERMAS, an urban’s poor organisation in Malaysia which displayed images of the community’s initiatives, and an exhibition of the current situation in Burma by Amnesty International. These exhibitions certainty helped the audience in understand better the issues highlighted in a few of the documentaries screened throughout our festival.
The main highlight of the annual FreedomFilmFest was of course the Premiere of the Winning FFF2009 films on Saturday. The screenings, which was held simultaneously in two-packed-screening halls featured a live interactive discussion among the audiences in both room. This was followed by a rousing performance by singer-songwriters & activists Meor, Black and their friends.
During the awards ceremony after the film premier, the three winners of the FFF2009 Film Proposal Competition Rahmat Haron, Khaizan Sharizad and Soh Sook Hwa each received the Justin Louis Award to commemorate the completion of the production of their documentary with commentaries from FFF2009 Judges Haris Ibrahim and Fiona Lawson-Baker. Not only that, the announcement of the winner of the FFF2009 Best Completed Film Competition was made, whereby winner Thilaga Sulathireh received RM2,000 for her submitted documentary Peace Cyanide Hill.
Soh Sook Hwa’s documentary KAYUH was announced as The Most Outstanding Human Rights Documentary among the three FFF2009 Film Proposal Competition winners.
The NEXT SCREENINGS of the FFF2009 Winning Documentaries will be at Han Chiang College, Penang from October 9 – 11 next weekend. Please click HERE for full schedule.
