KUCHING: The success of the Malay-Iban language movie ‘Belaban Hidup: Infeksi Zombie’ which recently won in the Best Feature Film category at the 2021 World Film Carnival in Singapore has received praise from state Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
“It is a wonderful movie,” he said while heaping praises on the producers and the production team.
The movie was produced and directed by a local talent, Ray Lee, with the script written by his Limbang-born wife, Misha Minut, who is also the co-producer.
According to Abdul Karim, the movie had shown that local talents can produce full-length films of any genre including fictional and horror movies which had proven to be among the most popular in the global entertainment industry.
“It is heartening to see that a full feature movie script about Iban warriors battling zombies for survival can attract so much attention from local viewers and those in other countries, while winning an award in a prestigious international film carnival. It is certainly an amazing feat for local producers,” he said.
“We are also proud that the movie had been nominated for the Best Feature Film category and Best Horror awards at this year’s International Symbolic Art Film Festival (ISAFF) based in St Petersburg, Russia and it has the potential of winning the hearts of the jurors.”
Abdul Karim also congratulated the production team for their nomination to this year’s Los Angeles Marina Del Rey Film Festival with potential of getting more awards in the near future.
He said the movie can serve as a good eye-opener to viewers especially those in other countries who are interested in the natural beauty, unique cultures and ethnic groups in Sarawak.
“We know the movie itself can help us attract foreigners to visit Sarawak, hopefully after the Covid-19 pandemic is finally over. This is a noble service which the producers have done for our state,” he said.
The movie is currently being screened at various film festivals held in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Canada, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Slovakia, France, Germany, Italy, India, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Argentina, and Puerto Rico.
