The national competition features works by Malaysian filmmakers and films made in Malaysia, vying for the Malaysian Open Competition Award. The lineup consists of 20 films from graduate and postgraduate students from institutions in and out of Malaysia, and up-and-coming filmmakers in the Malaysian film industry, expressing a diverse spectrum of feelings of the Malaysian experience. From longing to belonging, from discovery of oneself to mutative metamorphosis, the works reflect the words and emotions left unsaid – only to find it manifest in light and shadows. The student works in this lineup are also eligible for the Malaysian Student Film Award.
Malaysia Open Competition 1 (MOC1)
The Missing Trophy
Wong Ga Dong
Ahmir, a young filmmaker in need, accidentally meets with ex-industry veteran, Azla Kamaruddin – who is now working as a GrabCar driver. To his surprise, Azla was an award-winning cinematographer and would be able to fulfil Ahmir’s dreams – to shoot his short film tomorrow morning.
Sunshower
Chewing Gum
60-year-old Ms Ong, runs a burger stall in a hawker center, under a bright blue tent. It is the only way she can earn money, to give 50 dogs a home, and a second chance at life. As better opportunities in life calls for her, she makes the decision to leave the stall that means a lot to her. As she bids farewell to her stall in her final working days, she still pours her heart out into each order.
BOYS
Fabian Loo
A teenager is confronted with a family conflict due to his elder brother’s action. He experiences a journey of coming-of-age before he is sent away from home.
Goldfish
Eslam Hassona
With a goldfish to care for and no money, two young siblings in Kuala Lumpur embark on a desperate adventure, racing against time to feed their new pet and keep it hidden from their mother.
Malaysia Open Competition 2 (MOC2)
Stripes of Glory
Syed M. Afif
Stripes of Glory explores the individual identities through Ikhwan, Giselle and Fizar. They discuss their experiences and perceptions in a Malaysia that projects unity but struggles with internal divisions. Their conversation reveals conflicting views, highlighting the tension between personal identity and societal expectations.
Enflightenment
Teo Wey Yinn
Once upon a future, there was a man who didn’t grow wings. He vividly dreams of flying like the others. His world crumbled when the dreams vanished without a trace, but that devastation didn’t stop him from wanting to fly.
Fish Balls
Anwar Johari Ho
A man’s body begins to undergo a strange ‘transformation’. Haunted by his past, he struggles between his humanity and his supressed animalistic nature.
A Misfit Tiger
Bennial Soo Tzee Zziung
The Malaysian father, Beng Soon, came to Taiwan to investigate the disappearance of his son, Kah Choon. He gradually realized how little he knows his son, while also discovering the changes in him.
Malaysia Open Competition 3 (MOC3)
Horologist
Jared Lee Wei Sheong
Obsessed with time, Sand has discovered a way to sell time itself. While his rich customers stay young, they never question Sand’s discovery and the source of their youth. For every transaction, there should be a fair exchange.
CHINA BEAST
Kuok Hong YOENG, Christopher Ling Jing
Allen’s father goes missing after working in the logging area for many days. Reminded by the stories of the man-eating ‘China Beast’, he sets off with a friend, Arbi, in hopes of bringing his father home.
A Fieldwork of Getting Lost
JOY CHAN
A Fieldwork of Getting Lost is a hybrid documentary looking into a suspicious rumor between youths about fleeing from Malaysia through the Pan Borneo Highway, Sarawak.
Malaysia Open Competition 4 (MOC4)
Construction
Syed Munawir Bin Syed Abdul Razak
In Paris, constructions are everywhere and they must stop by June 2024 due to the Olympics. 10,500 km away in Seremban, Father is taking his own sweet time with his construction, with the help of Mother.
Hero
Sunder Thevaraj. R
Returning to their old home after 33 years, a family reflects in their past mistakes and oppression. On their journey, the daughters reconnect with their roots, and express their gratitude for their father’s resilience, assuring him that he’s their Nayakan (hero).
Partition
Matthew Tan
Beneath the glitzy and glamorous landscape that characterizes the UAE, this semi-ethnographic documentary explores the hidden reality of partition spaces – apartments with subdivided rooms – and the lives of their resident migrant workers, who comprise nearly 90% of the UAE’s population.
Disappearing Disappearance
Elvin Kang
Ah Hao, a young teenager from a rural village, struggles with the void left by his absent parents. When his father, Ah Thiam, comes home drunk one night and mysteriously vanishes, Ah Hao sets out on a journey to uncover the truth behind his disappearance.
A decade later, Ah Hao visits a cherished fishing lake in his past, as he remembers and feels his father’s spirit, and finds his solace.
Malaysia Open Competition 5 (MOC5)
The Weight of Silence
Ezzah Mahmud
The Weight of Silence is a reflexive personal documentary about two sisters navigating their childhood while growing up with a schizophrenic mother. The film delves deeper and questions the silence that shrouds their family, and the fear of speaking out that had pushed them further apart.
The 46th Moon
Chan Teik Quan
Transitioning into womanhood without a mother, a 21-year-old woman looks through her late mother’s old belongings to capture the last drop of warmth she left for her.
AH MA
CHEW Boon Wai
An elderly Chinese woman living alone in a village prepares for the Qing Ming festival. The grief of losing her husband parallels the pain of missing her grandson who had left to work in the city.
where time stood still
Mary Grace Liew
A young woman reminisces about the conversations and cherished memories she shared with her late lover by listening to a vinyl record he left behind. As she plays the record, each song evokes vivid images of their time together—moments of joy, laughter, and intimate exchanges that defined their relationship.
Reading You
Angeline Teh
An immersion into memories where absence of a person takes hold. Through the diaries left behind by the filmmaker’s mother 20 years ago, Reading You is an attempt to reconcile with the decisions made in the past.