A hilarious TikTok musical about nasi lemak (yup, the country’s national dish), a virtual comedy-variety show, an actor who embarks on creative masterclasses in her bid to become the true triple threat and a documentary on Malaysia's national blind football team.
That’s just a sampling of the upcoming two-day digital arts festival called KLoud Fest, which premieres on March 19.
KLoud Fest, organised by non-profit organisation DiverseCity in partnership with Malaysian-British arts group Liver & Lung, will be streamed via the festival’s website.
“What we aim to do through this festival, despite the challenges of the pandemic, is capacity building in the creative economy to ensure future resilience, ” says Datin Seri Sunita Rajakumar, DiverseCity founder.
“Audiences can experience various different forms of creativity in one space at this festival, ” says Liver & Lung’s co-founder Shafeeq Shajahan.
This ticketed event (starting at RM15) features six curated programmes featuring 30 different Malaysian artists. After a period of MCO non-activity in the arts scene, viewers can look forward to original musical films, comedy shows and even a virtual dance party.
The fest will roll out live and pre-recorded performances.
Time to get arty in Trina in KL: Creative Masterclasses, a two-part travelogue, The Try Guys-esque series presented by actor Putrina Rafie as she learns from theatre veteran Jo Kukathas, photographer Daniel Adams and award-winning comedian Hannan Azlan.
In Badrish & The Beatles: A Music Film, you can follow a troubled boy as he live streams a tribute concert that celebrates his favourite band. The film's story also slowly unearths his tragic and sad past memories. The film features 10 songs, including Let It Be, Yesterday and The Long And Winding Road.
Dance Revolution: A Virtual Party offers a cast of local deejays (JonnyVicious, Alam, Roshan, House of RN, Nahsyk and Xes Xes Loveseat) catering to your "stay home" party hard needs.
“Everything you see is new. As a creative team, we wanted a digital-first approach that essentially focused on adapting to the new normal.
“Despite the limitations and restrictions during the pandemic, we wanted to deliver quality content," says Shafeeq.
Each show will be available for 48 hours. Each video runs 50 to 120 minutes.
KLoud Fest will feature performing arts regulars such as Jo Kukathas, Putrina Rafie, Badrish Bahadur, Daniel Adams, Dalila Samad, Emil Bernsten, Jamilah Abu Bakar and Hammada Bamadhaj.
Hannan Azlan, Mad Sabah, Kuah Jenhan, AIIA Improv Troupe and Carmen Rose make up the local comedians.
The 2019 Malaysian sports documentary film Eye On The Ball is also part of the programme.
In keeping things fun, audiences will also be able to interact with the performers during each show via live chat on the website.
KLoud Fest is supported by MY CreativeVentures and the National Economic Revival Plan’s (Penjana) Creative Industry Recovery Grant.
The grant will be used to pay over 125 individuals from across Malaysia’s performing arts scene who are involved in this project, including artists, cameramen, content creators and more.
More details on KLoud Fest here.
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