KUALA LUMPUR: Local indie film Belaban Hidup: Infeksi Zombie has once again made the country proud by winning the Best Film and Best Horror Film at the International Symbolic Art Film Festival in St Petersburg, Russia.
Sarawak-born producer and director Ray Lee, 45, said he was grateful for the victory on Saturday and proud of the achievement, which helped Malaysia to shine on the global stage.
“This is a victory for all of us. Thank you for the recognition.
“We hope this success will be an inspiration to other young filmmakers not to give up on producing creative works to make the nation proud, ” he said.
On March 18, the movie, produced by Hornbill Films Sdn Bhd and Harry Aziz Entertainment Sdn Bhd, made history when it triumphed in the Horror and Science Fiction category in the feature film genre at the 2021 Singapore World Film Carnival.
The victory caught the attention of Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who congratulated Lee and described the win as proving that the country was not short of talent in producing international-quality artworks.
“We thank the Prime Minister for his concern with the current developments in the local film industry. We are humbled and happy, ” said Lee.
He said the film was also nominated for the Best Feature Film at the Los Angeles Marina Del Rey Film Festival.
“We are also anxiously waiting to see if we can get through the nominations for several other international film festivals such as the Paris Film Festival, Hollywood Blood Horror Festival and Swedish Film Award, ” he added.
The movie, which received funding from the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), is about a group of orphans locked away by a mad scientist for an experiment.
Its cast includes Pekin Ibrahim, Altimet, Pablo Amirul, Anna Melissa, Cassidy Panggau and Indonesian singer Tegar as well as Slovak-born actress Katrina Gray.
Distributed by Metrowealth Pictures Sdn Bhd, the film is expected to be screened by the end of this year. — Bernama
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