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WHILE policymakers and government agencies struggle to find their footing towards moving forward to develop and cultivate a dynamic film industry, many private entities, organisations and independent artists have had to step up to the plate to sustain local talents.
Festivals like the Freedom Film Fest, SeaShorts Film Festival, and the BMW Shorties, which all started as minor platforms have grown to become some the biggest events within the film industry.
This year marks the BMW Shorties’ 16th consecutive year of discovering and empowering local talents in the film industry, providing Malaysians with an established platform to share their voice. Since its inception in 2006, BMW Shorties has witnessed the varied cadence of the local film industry and continues to be an active player.
Where blockbusters and making it onto the silver screen were once measures of success for filmmakers in Malaysia, a paradigm shift in recent years now crown shortform digital content king. Though the pivot can be pinned on the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions that befell the world, so much more about the Malaysian film landscape has changed in the last decade and a half.
Sashi Ambi, Head of Corporate Communications and Sustainability Lead at BMW Group Malaysia is no stranger to this transformation, having led the BMW Shorties from day one and developed the platform to what it is today – one of the most prestigious patrons of the film and digital content creation industry in Malaysia.
In an exclusive interview with The Vibes, he talks about the early days of the festival and how it has grown since to become one of the most major events within the culture and artistic scene in Malaysia.
The Vibes (TV): Could you tell me the story behind BMW Shorties. How and why was this festival initiated?
Sashi Ambi (SA): BMW Shorties began as a creative arts and culture initiative in Malaysia to support emerging film talent. The program began in 2007 when we saw a potential and need within the Malaysian creative scene for industry support and recognition.
We had plenty of amazing local talents who were already being celebrated at festivals overseas, but no unified platform to provide them with what they needed to advance in their aspirations in this creative space.
Although we started as a short film competition with an initial grand prize of RM50,000 to fund the winner’s next short film project, the BMW Shorties has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 16 years.
We became one of Malaysia’s most prestigious and longest-running short film competitions that also provides significant industry support, funding, and upskilling opportunities to aspiring Malaysian directors, producers, filmmakers, and digital content creators to guide them in their career – beyond the annual competition.
TV: What were the early days of the program like? And how has it evolved over the last decade?
SA: While the reception for the BMW Shorties have always been tremendous, we always felt that the talents could grow beyond our capabilities of supporting this community. A creative community can only thrive if more partners from both the public and the private sector come together to develop and support initiatives authentically.
Being one of the longest running platforms for the film and arts scene in Malaysia, we have not only witnessed but braved first-hand the rise and fall – and then its recovery, alongside the creative industry through the years. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the creative industry was one of the last few to reopen.
We were also able to better support the winners of the program by increasing the grand prize from RM50,000 to the current RM80,000.
In addition, we introduced the BMW Shorties Understudy Programme for young talents to pursue their passion in the creative industry and over time, we added a range of supporting award categories to recognise the many people who work behind the scenes on these creative projects.
TV: The program has become a litmus test for up-and-coming local filmmakers with former winners like Shanjhey Kumar Perumal, Quek Shio Chuan, Tan Seng Kiat, Tan Ce Ding going on to become feature filmmakers or gaining recognition in the international film circuit. Did you ever envision that the program would turn out this way?
SA: Yes. It has always been our vision for the BMW Shorties to put Malaysian talents out there on the world map and get their creative aspirations and expertise beyond our local stage, and to support them in their journey – whether it was for bigger and better through feature-length films or to go abroad and participate in international film circuits or even be recognised in projects beyond film, in the art, digital and creative industry. This is what BMW Shorties are all about.
The growth of our community has been astounding and we see an immense level of passion and drive every year, most of all, there is a fire that never dies out – and we want to keep stoking that flame to the best of our availability by going on-ground, connecting with new creators, and listening to what the community needs as we shift with the times.
TV: Often, advertisements coming out from Malaysia display more verisimilitude and experimentation with techniques, narrative styles, and visual effects than the typical fare in cinemas. In many ways, the local advertising industry has been a primary driver for filmmakers to get their start and showcase their talents.
SA: This is true. Most of the winners at the BMW Shorties are in much demand in the creative departments of most of the advertising industries in the region but I believe the potential in the film industry portion of it has not been fully realised and this requires a lot of change especially in the areas of authenticity in the industry.
We have always held firm in our commitment to ensuring that every one of our cultural engagement initiatives provides authentic and sustainable support to creative communities. For BMW Shorties, we give full curatorial integrity and absolute creative freedom to the filmmakers.
But of course, we do all this while still upholding respect for cultural values and sensitivities, avoiding unnecessarily extreme violence or profanity, and encouraging audio-visual inclusivity with multi-language subtitles where possible.
TV: Could you talk to me about the selection process? Have submissions increased and the quality of work improved?
SA: Submissions have gradually increased over the years, and we saw it peak in 2019 with just over 130 entries – from a yearly average of 60 to 80 entries back then. This time around, after a two-year hiatus, it is heartening to see the industry rebound, as evidenced by the 93 submissions we received for the theme, RE: IMAGINE.
For us, the judging process occurs behind closed doors and is often an incredibly vibrant affair. Judges of the BMW Shorties are asked to select their award choices based on creativity, an original interpretation of the competition theme, strength of content and the ability of an entry to tell a story, which will often see judges debating with one another for hours, on whom should be the final award winner, not only for the BMW Shorties Grand Prize, but also for awards in various categories such as Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and so on.
Members of the public also get to participate in the judging of the BMW Shorties through the People’s Choice Award. This allows them to vote for their favourite film, which continues to be wildly successful in garnering public support, not only for BMW Shorties but for the respective directors as well.
This year, the panel of judges were made up of Saw Teong Hin, Anwari Ashraf, Nadiah Hamzah, Jeany Amir and Joon Goh, as you can see, they are credible experts in the industry.
TV: What have been some of your favourite moments to witness over the years leading this program?
SA: The BMW Shorties has proudly received over 1,000 entries for our competition since 2007, but our biggest achievement of all is to have seen so many of our winning or nominated submissions screened – later on – at prestigious international film festivals such as Cannes, New York, Rotterdam, Oberhausen, Rome, Clermont-Ferrand and more.
Having our first winner, Abdullah Zahir Omar premiere his very first film Fly by Night, our 2009 winner Shanjhey Perumal take home the Best Film at the Malaysian Film Festival with his film Jagat.
Other highlights include seeing the many awards our Malaysian talents have won at the Golden Horse Film Festival and hearing some of their names announced as winners in the awards for the advertising industry. It is also truly amazing to see a finalist from the first year, Kubhaer Jetwani, have his name listed in the credits of a blockbuster film like Mission Impossible.
I had several favourites from this year’s selection, but I truly enjoyed our winning film Fasa by Syahmi Nosan and Sayang by Roanne Woo. – The Vibes, December 18, 2022
