SABAH HOLDS OUT HOPE FOR THE BIG SCREEN

FUTURE..... Movie makers. From left: Sean Sarto Gudid, Shaun Thomas, Esther Linus (adviser), Sergius Gudid and Lionel Vitus. Insert: Matius Sator.

By : NURHAFIZAH YUSOF

IT DOESN’T take much these days to make a film. Lionel Vitus, 18, and his three schoolmates of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tambunan took three days to produce an eight-minute movie called “The Rewinder”. It won the 2nd educational digital film festival. And thanks to cheap, easy-to-use and high quality hand-held digital video cameras, Sabah is the first to discover creative talents who might one day make it big in Hollywood.

That at least is the hope of Dr Yee Moh Chai, Sabah minister of resource development and information technology. “The festival can open a new chapter in the Malaysian cinema development, especially in Sabah,” he said at the close of the festival in Kota Kinabalu on November 19.

Sabah is the only state that has this festival, according to education director Muhiddin Yusin. Interest in it has grown since digital story telling workshops were introduced in schools three years ago. They are jointly organised by the Multi-media Development Corporation, the IT Advancement Unit of Dr Yee’s ministry and the State Educational Technology Division. Fifty-nine schools took part in this year’s festival against 32 last year.

Matius Sator, Dr Yee’s permanent secretary who spoke for him, said Sabah would be able to produce a “new generation of local filmmakers out of young people working with digital video cameras.”

Dr Yee said the Sabah government’s major focus on ICT under the 10th five-year Malaysia plan was to encourage Sabahans to develop creative content.

“We often hear people say that Sabah has plenty of creative talents,” he said. “I’m sure that they have the potential of making it big in the movie world if they are well nurtured.”

The SMK Tambunan’s movie, which was inspired by the game “Prince of Persia”, won the first prize of 1,000 ringgit ($323). The second prize of 800 ringgit went to SK Kinabutan Besar of Tawau. The team from SK Kampung Enam Nabawan won the third prize of 600 ringgit. All of them were given digital cameras, laptops, pen-drives and trophies. (Insight Sabah)