Zakaria Abdul Hamid, chairman of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), speaks during the launching ceremony of "EYE" Short Film & Music Video Competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 9, 2020. Malaysian filmmakers will be able to bring the story of the country's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak to Chinese audience through a collaborative film competition launched on Wednesday. The contest, "EYE" Short Film & Music Video Competition, aims to discover the inspiring moments during the outbreak, including capturing the mutual assistance and support between China and Malaysia in fighting the pandemic together, the organizer said in a statement. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian filmmakers will be able to bring the story of the country's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak to Chinese audience through a collaborative film competition launched on Wednesday.
The contest, "EYE" Short Film & Music Video Competition, aims to discover the inspiring moments during the outbreak, including capturing the mutual assistance and support between China and Malaysia in fighting the pandemic together, the organizer said in a statement.
Additionally, the competition will give a boost to the country's media creators by reactivating and revitalizing those affected by the disruption caused by COVID-19 as well as to provide a platform to young and talented filmmakers.
The competition is organized by Mango Media Malaysia in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), the Chinese embassy in Malaysia, and Xiamen University Malaysia, among others.
In his speech in the launching ceremony, Finas chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid said the competition is an opportunity to boost cultural exchange and to encourage more productions between Malaysian and Chinese filmmakers.
Zakaria also said China's film industry, being ahead compared to Malaysia in terms of technology and technique, would help Malaysia's filmmakers who are seeking to collaborate and improve themselves in those areas.
Zakaria expressed the hope that more enriched movie themes will be forged for better understanding of cultures and bring both cultures closer.
For his part, Minister and Deputy Chief of the Mission of the Chinese embassy in Malaysia Tang Rui told reporters following the event that the collaboration drew upon the longstanding relationship between both countries, especially in the arts sector, and would help deepen their cooperation.
"We should continue to carry on this tradition, good relationship in the new era ... the film will be a very good medium and platform for the two countries to strengthen the relationship, to deepen the understanding between the two countries," he said.
The competition is open to the public and has no registration fees for the two categories: Short Film and Music Video, with the Short Film being subdivided into student category and public category.
The deadline for submissions is Oct. 31.
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