Schedule for the 14th Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival

The tale of three mountains in Sarawak

A story about how the two immortal princesses and a mortal prince save the forest from a huge tsunami brought by the king of heaven.

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Whina

On 13 October 1975, a historic land march reached the grounds of Parliament in Wellington and its elderly, articulate leader became Te Whaea o te Motu (Mother of the Nation).
WHINA tells Dame Whina Cooper's life story, from her achievements as a leader in her Māori electorate to the famous hikoi (march) that made Māori land rights a key national issue.
Dame Whina Cooper was a beloved Māori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. Flawed yet resilient, WHINA tells the story of a woman formed by tradition, compelled by innovation, and guided by an instinct for equality and justice whose legacy as the Te Whaea o te Motu (Mother of the Nation) was an inspiration to an entire country.

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Imposter In The Last Dance

A king is sad because his wife has gone and never come back. In another palace, there is news about a king who has just got married. The big question about the missing queen forces the king to make the hard decision to find her. He takes the opportunity to find a way to enter the rival king's palace to see what he can learn.

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The Adventures Of Prince Achmed

A handsome prince rides a flying horse to faraway lands and embarks on magical adventures, which include befriending a witch, meeting Aladdin, and battling demons to win a princess's heart.
In the story, we meet an evil magician, Princess Dinarsade, the demons of Wak Wak and Princess Pari Banu!

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Tinalangan

Based on an actual occurrence, when a young Tobilung man disappears in the forest, the people say that he has ventured to another World with the Bunian/Elf people who co-exist with our World.
His wife consults a Boblian/Priestess to get him back. She performs a ceremony with the help of the Komburongoh/Sacred Medium who can communicate with the unseen and gods. But after the young man's body has been found, another ceremony (Monoriuk) is needed to bring his soul back.

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Mentawai - Souls of the Forest

The last indigenous people of Mentawai, a small group of islands south-west of Sumatra, are fighting with creative resistance to preserve their ancient culture and the rainforest where they live.
After 30 years of democratization in Indonesia, Jakarta is now enforcing deforestation in Mentawai. In collaboration with investigative journalist, Febrianti, and indigenous foundations, our film portrays this indigenous culture, showing its history and resistance up to the most recent geopolitical developments in Indonesia's growing environmental degradation. Now logging companies threaten the fragile eco-system of the islands.
Joo Peter (director) and Martison Siritoitet will be present at the screening of the film.

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Misplaced

Fang, a young foreign caregiver from Vietnam, is struggling to look after a granny with Alzheimer's disease in Taiwan. The tension between the two is more acute after the granny runs out to find her son who has been missing for 25 years.

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Barang Kali

Jamal and Natalie are on a date for the first time. Suddenly, Natalie says she can see the future and their future together is not great. Is the future that Natalie sees a sure thing or just a probability?

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Memento Mori: Earth

Vân is bedridden. Wandering between reality, memories and dreams, she is trying to record a farewell message for her daughters. She also has a final wish to donate her organs when she is deceased but faces opposition from her husband, Hoàng, and her father.

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An Island Drifts

Set in Singapore, a young teacher presses for the truth from a maladjusted student. This leads to devastating results and they suffer the ignominy of losing everything that matters to them. The story holds a mirror up to society, where a mistake can derail a life in an overly pressurized world.
Vivian Ip (director) and Kim Mariel (producer) will be present at the screening of the film.

Somleng Reatrey - Sound Of The Night

Vibol and his brother Kea sell noodles from a motorized cart every night on the streets of Phnom Penh. They often face troublesome threats from gangsters and thieves, even if those very people are their only customers. As the city is growing around them, they consider their unstable income and imagine a different future.

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Ribs

Morgan is a young man trying to reconnect with his deceased mother and determine what events led to her suicide. He does this by pursuing a modeling career which made his mother famous before he was born. He encounters the devastating neglect and trauma he and his mother share and discovers that her giving birth to him ruined her famed career.
Noah Cotgrove (director) might be present at the screening of the film.

Ang Dragon Sa Capanganuran

Ang Dragon Sa Capanganuran (The Dragon In The Clouds) takes place between 1898 and 1900. When the revolution against Spain breaks out in the Visayas, a poor Chinaman from Cebu and his unlikely friend, a Spanish lieutenant, are taken prisoner by vengeful Katipuneros. Meanwhile in Carcar, General Pantaleon Villegas of the Revolutionary Army, butts heads with the Mayor, a loyalist to Spain.
They all have different plans for a new Philippines - with conflicting ideas about what being a Filipino means. Now they must ask themselves: Who is in the right?

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Kokuryo - The Untold Story of Bb. Undas 2019

Centred around two brave transgender women who find the resilience of their friendship tested over the course of one chaotic midnight, KOKURYO: THE UNTOLD STORY OF Bb. UNDAS 2019 is a squalid short story of a midnight gone wrong. Mindy Jane has just won the Bb Undas 2019. While de-dragging and untucking backstage, she opens the envelope containing the cash prize and is shocked to discover that half the money has gone!
Mindy Jane immediately tells Diding, her best friend, and then decides to embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous robbery.
From fighting against drunk transphobes, blasting at the sponsor's house and being summoned to the Barangay Hall, their rip-roaring odyssey leads through the physical and emotional rollercoaster ride of a lifetime.

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Aunt Lotus & Her Dream Bicycle

Spurred by a film production crew who claimed she had no imagination, a blind grandma constructs an unusual cycling simulation with common household items.

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Galang Kangin

Putri (16) lives with her mother (42), who is blind. Putri is a third-grade junior high school student who sells bead bracelets at a tourist site on her way home from school. But Putri's mother suffers from trauma from the Bali bombing incident and is always worried and afraid of crowds.
One day, Putri invites her mother to visit Sanur Beach - both to reminisce about the past and also to take toya segara (ocean water) to sprinkle in their back yard.
The trip to Sanur Beach is made on public transport, a bemo. However, when they arrive at the beach, they are expelled by a security guard because a hotel has privatized the area.

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Twenty20

Jenny is a teenager who has to live up to the “perfect life”. Taking care of her Asperger brother becomes the lens that her inner world is projected upon, together with the dilemma of meeting expectations and the realistic failings of everyday life.
Between an absent jet-setting father, real-estate mogul mother and a favourite teacher leaving, Jenny's disappointment becomes sharper when her drama club fails to secure the championship. Unbeknownst to her, the people around her are also going through their own journeys. Everything converges in a family crisis where all of them are forced to look at each other's vision of what the perfect life is.
Like the year 2020, the film marks a turning point. As events change, viewpoints have to be adjusted. Only with new vision is the future possible.
Wong Kwang Han (director) will be present at the screening of the film.

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Rise

Elise thought she had the perfect life: an ideal boyfriend and a promising career as a ballet dancer. It all falls apart the day she catches him cheating on her; and after she suffers an injury on stage, it seems like she might not be able to dance again.
The path to physical and emotional recovery will lead her away from Paris to a picturesque location in Brittany – where her friends, a new love and the freedom of contemporary dance will help her reconnect with her father and, most importantly, herself.

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Dog Eaters

Mariana aspires to a better life. Yet there are trappings around womanhood – an unemployed husband, a second pregnancy - that she has to grapple with. To break free, Mariana has choices to make. And though radical, it is the woman in her saying that decisions will have to be made, no matter what the consequences are.
Kevin Pison Piamonte (director) will be present at the screening of the film.

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Tak Bicara Bersuara (Silent Talk)

One night, full of tactics and puzzles, Monalisa is confronted by mysterious voices that disturb her. What is that sound? Who is Monalisa? What is she really looking for?

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Maria

Maria's childhood turns dark when she loses her parents in a hit-and-run accident caused by a rich young couple. The trauma of the incident makes Maria hold a grudge against the rich.
Reaching her teenage years, everything is beautiful with her lover, Randy, but their love is blocked by differences in social status.
Maria's old grudge resurfaces when Randy marries Serina, a beautiful young woman from a rich family. Maria intends to get her lover back, even if her life is at stake.
Ryot Ujin (director) will be present at the screening of the film.

Awards Night

• Jury Feedback (4pm - 5pm)
• Awards Night, 7.30pm
  Important: The Awards Night will take place at the Grand Ballroom Hilton.

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