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Actor, film producer and director Hans Isaac has been appointed as chairman of the National Film Development Corp Malaysia (Finas). He replaces Samsuni Mohd Nor who served as Finas’s acting chairman for the past four months.

Isaac’s appointment was announced on Wednesday by Gobind Singh Deo. the Communications and Multimedia Minister. Isaac will enjoy a two-year term of office.

The appointment of a new chairman follows a month after the government also gave Finas a new chief executive. It appointed another multihyphenate, actor-director-screenwriter Ahmad Idham Nazri (“Pencuri Hati Mr. Cinderella”) in March.

The pair are seen as a pair of safe hands who will steady the organization which was last year rocked by allegations of embezzlement. Deo said that he hoped “Finas members will give their full cooperation in implementing reforms based on the government’s direction.”

Despite multiple support measures, and an ongoing cinema building boom, Malaysia...

The Run (Lari)

Written and directed by Ahmad Idham

Malaysia, 2013

For most micro budget movies, the mere fact that they could get made can be considered an accomplishment in of itself. Playing at a festival is seen as an added bonus. With limited resources comes the need to get creative in ways that, when everything comes together, can sometimes produce something fresh and new. They don’t have the luxury of spending millions of dollars on sets, actors, stunt choreographers, and special effects. As moviegoers, the one thing that should be avoided as much as possible is to give a small movie a pass simply because it tread rockier waters than studio-mandated tentpole projects. Although it is very tempting to support the little guys, sometimes a spade has to be called a spade. Herein lies the issue with The Run from Malaysian writer-director Ahmad Idham.

The film follows a former...

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Then baby, let me tell you Malaysian action flick The Run is flattering a whole lot of folks from other parts of Asia. When Khaliff (Aaron Aziz) returns to his native village for his father's funeral, it doesn't take him long to realize that things have changed. The former soldier, however, is not done being surprised. A family friend informs him that his sister is missing and his father was murdered, quickly establishing that the quiet little village he left years ago for his tour of duty has turned into a hot spot of criminal activity. Writer and director Ahmad Idham borrows heavily from other powerhouse nations and one-time leaders of the Asian action cinema scene....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

The 18th annual Fantasia International Film Festival will be taking place once again in Montreal and the first wave of programming has been announced, revealing an eclectic mix of genre films from around the world:

“Montreal, June 19, 2014 – The 18th annual Fantasia International Film Festival is gearing up to take Montreal by storm with three weeks of inspiration and excitement starting July 17 until August 5, 2014. Our full 2014 lineup of programming and special events will be revealed shortly, but in the meantime, here’s an early First Wave Announcement of several selected highlights and info to whet your appetite.

Unveiling Our 2014 Poster Art: Fantasia Pays Tribute To Three Legendary Figures Of The Fantastic

On May 7 of last year, Ray Harryhausen, filmmaker and stop-motion special effects pioneer, passed away at the age of 92. Mr. Harryhausen created some of the most beloved and innovative fantastic film imagery of all time in such classics as The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad...

The grandaddy of all film fests, Fantasia 2014, is set to kick off on July 17th, and we have this year's artwork to share along with the first wave of event and film announcements.

From the Press Release:

The 18th annual Fantasia International Film Festival is gearing up to take Montreal by storm with three weeks of inspiration and excitement starting July 17 until August 5, 2014. Our full 2014 lineup of programming and special events will be revealed shortly, but in the meantime here’s an early First Wave Announcement of several selected highlights and info to whet your appetite.

For this year’s edition and onwards, Fantasia will be returning to the freshly renovated Concordia Hall Cinema as its main base, which now features an even larger screen, new seating, and upgraded projection and sound.

Unveiling Our 2014 Poster Art: Fantasia Pays Tribute To Three Legendary Figures Of The Fantastic

On May 7 of last year,...

Genre festival to open with Jacky in the Kingdom of Women [pictured]; other titles include Guardians of the Galaxy, Boyhood, The Harvest and Suburban Gothic.

Riad Sattouf’s Jacky in the Kingdom of Women will receive its Canadian premiere as the opening film of this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival.

The Montreal-based genre festival runs July 17-Aug 5 and has also announced it will hold a special screening of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Other first wave announcements include six world premieres: Leo Gabriadze’s Cybernatural; Jean Luc Herbulot’s Dealer; Aik Karapetian’s The Man in the Orange Jacket; Sarah Adina Smith’s The Midnight Swim; Dan Bush’s The Reconstruction of William Zero; and Richard Bates Jr’s Suburban Gothic.

Fantasia has also announced six international premieres, including John McNaughton’s The Harvest and Park Jae-hyun’s The Huntresses, and ten Canadian premieres such as The Mo Brothers’ Killers and Mike Cahill’s I Origins.

Richard Linklater’s critically...

It is that time of the year again in which we start preparing for our favourite film festival in the world. For the unfamiliar, Sound On Sight has delivered some of the best coverage of the Fantasia Film Festival since we first launched back in 2008. In the past we’ve published up to 55 reviews, dozens of features and recorded six podcasts dedicated entirely to the three and a half week long event. So be sure to come visit us again and again throughout the months of July and August, as we will surely be all over the 2014 edition. The 18th annual Fantasia International Film Festival is taking Montreal by storm, starting July 17 until August 5, 2014. They’ve just released their new poster and along with the first wave of films, and as expected, Fantasia’s programmers aren’t disappointing. Here’s the press release. Enjoy!

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Montreal, June 19, 2014 – The 18th annual Fantasia...

Jangan pandang belakang (Don’t Look Back)

Screenplay by Ahmad Idham

Directed by Ahmad Idham

Malaysia, 2007

There’s a certain charm to Jangan pandang belakang, a charm that stops the movie from being absolutely dreadful. Said charm isn’t enough to produce a well-made film, but it’s hard not to appreciate a film that still believes horror is in the 1960s. Saying that Jangan pandang belakang doesn’t attempt to be scary is misleading, because the film really does try. It tries in every way that a film could try, but it’s simply not able to make anything worthwhile out of any attempts at being more than people play acting in front of a camera.

That charm is present though. It’s present in the attempts at atmosphere, in the woefully obvious jump scares, and even in the bad attempts at acting. No one involved with Jangan pandang belakang...