KUCHING: Viewers can catch the premier of The Baram Bunch, an animation which showcases where tradition meets present-time technology on TVS Channel 122 Astro and MYTV today (July 26).
The Baram Brunch is an animation adaptation of the book ‘The Broken Tajau’ written by Victoria Siaw.
The Broken Tajau is the first book written by Siaw based on the local setting and Sarawakian culture.
It is a children’s story book about four children who are the best of friends despite being of different races (Iban, Kayan, Bidayuh and Chinese) which reflects Sarawak’s multiracial harmony. This story is set in Sri Aman and contains a lot of local elements.
“It is a project by TVS and the Creative Heritage and Innovation Community (CHIC) funded by Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) and Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC).
“The animation was created by first-, second-, and third-year Swinburne design students from the School of Design and Arts (SoDA),” TVS said in a statement.
TVS said that in an animation workshop organised by SoDA with SMG and SMA in August last year, the book and its story was used to train students in animation production.
After a month of workshop, the students were then selected to participate in the production pilot based on the book, the entire production was created and completed remotely online.
“The story is about four kids trying to save the megaliths by telling their stories, so that they will never die. So, we hope kids will understand that they need to record and share their stories from their culture in order to help preserve them.
“The use of digital technology, mobile phones, video content, the internet — these are the tools of the new generation, tools that will help the communities participate in the new digital economy of Sarawak,” said Greg Wee, director of The Baram Bunch and a lecturer of SoDa.
Meanwhile, production manager Rahaf Elmahdi praised all those involved in the production of the animation.
“I’ve experienced true beauty and magic the moment I did the final edit and saw the whole story come to an end in front of me. Seeing all the efforts from each person in the team as the final edit of the video played and the journey we had together, was all I could think of,” he added.
