Malaysian director Bebbra Mailin’s local drama Ninavau is set to open the 8th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest), which will be clos
Malaysian director Bebbra Mailin’s local drama Ninavau is set to open the 8th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest), which will be closed by Pia Marais’s Transamazonia.
The festival will take place in Kuala Lumpur from July 19-27 and has programmed 62 films from 48 countries, up from the 50 titles selected last year.
Opening film Ninavau marks Mailin’s feature directorial debut and is based on a low she directed in 2019. It tells the story of a Kadazan woman who returns from the peninsula to her devout Catholic family with a change of heart in a film that explores cultural identity.
Transamazonia marks the fourth feature of South African filmmaker Marais and follows a newborn healer who is the daughter of a missionary, deep in the Amazon jungle. It previously premiered in competition at Locarno.
MIFFest is also set to present its lifetime achievement award to Hong Kong actor and martial artist Ti Lung, known for his numerous roles in Shaw Brothers Studio films such as The Duel and The Blood Brothers as well as John Woo classic A Better Tomorrow and its sequel. The festival will screen A Better Tomorrow as part of its Master At Work strand.
MIFFest’s award for excellent achievement in film will be presented to Indonesian actor Reza Rahadian, known for performances in the likes of Habibie & Ainun, My Stupid Boss and Locarno Golden Leopard-winner Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash.
The festival’s nine-strong international competition includes Georgi M. Unkovski’s DJ Ahmet, which picked up an audience award at Sundance; Lotfi Achour’s Red Path, winner of best film and director at Red Sea; and Dong Zijian’s My Friend An Delie, which premiered at Tokyo.
The jury will be presided over by Asif Kapadia, the Oscar-winning UK filmmaker behind documentaries Amy, Senna and Diego Maradona. Further jury members include Malaysian actress Diana Daniella, Hong Kong actress Jennifer Yu, Indonesia’s Rahadian and Indian filmmaker Rima Das.
The festival will also include a spotlight on Indian cinema, celebrating the centenary of actor and director Raj Kapoor with a retrospective of his most iconic titles and highlighting female filmmakers from the country with titles such as Village Rockstars 2 by Das.
It will also curate a programme of Hong Kong titles such as Jill Leung’s Last Song For You and Oliver Chan’s Montages Of A Modern Motherhood.
MIFFest 2025: International Competition
All That’s Left Of You (Ger-Cyp)
Dir. Cherien Dabis
DJ Ahmet (N Mac-Czech-Seb-Cro)
Dir. Georgi M. Unkovski
My Friend An Delie (China)
Dir. Dong Zijian
Paternal Leave (Ger-It)
Dir. Alissa Jung
Red Path (Tun-Fr-Bel-Pol-Saudi-Qatar)
Dir. Lotfi Achour
Soft Leaves (Bel)
Dir. Miwako Van Weyenberg
To A Land Unknown (Pal)
Dir. Mahdi Fleifel
Universal Language (Can)
Dir. Matthew Rankin
Winter In Sokcho (Fr)
Dir. Koya Kamura
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