The sixth edition of the PRISM UBD Short Film Festival has received more entries from Brunei institutions this year. They include entries from Kolej International Graduate Studies (KIGS), Politeknik Brunei, Mahakarya Institute of the Arts Asia (MIAA), UBD and Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA).
Meanwhile international entries are from Bangkok University, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Srinakharinwirot University in Thailand and Curtin University Malaysia.
A total of 24 short films produced by the students were showcased at the opening of the screening on November 16 at the One City Cineplex yesterday.
The annual event themed ‘Crisis and Opportunity’ and co-organised by Dr Yong Liu of the Design and Creative Industries (DCI) programme and Mayyer Ling of the English Department, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) features a three-hour screening for the first time on a big screen in a cinema theatre.
PRISM became one of the official events under the ASEAN University Network on Culture and the Arts (AUN-CA) umbrella last year. This year saw, 29 student short films – which is the highest number in a single edition in PRISM’s six-year history, chosen as finalists to compete in five categories. They are Best Fiction Short Film Award, Best Documentary Short Film Award, Best Animation Short Film Award, Best Experimental Short Film and Best Social Media Content.
The jury panel includes representatives from Brunei’s media organisations, production houses and the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI), along with an international jury member from an European university.
The winner in each competition category will receive a BND500 cash prize.
The sixth PRISM‘s physical premiere kicked off with an opening film Séance, a smartphone-made short film which won the recent Dracula Digital 2023 Competition Trophy in the fifth Dracula International Film Festival last month. The premiere screening is followed by a three-week online screening of all the selected finalists on Progresif Media – where registered viewers may vote for their favourite short film to win the People’s Choice Award.
Winners of all the five categories will be announced during an award ceremony on December 7.
