SinimaFest: A Love Letter to Film
- Aliyah
- Jan 18
- 4 min read
In this feature, our Film and TV journalist Aliyah recounts her experience at HELP University’s SinimaFest and shares her optimism for the future of Malaysia’s creative industry.
The third-years of HELP University’s Faculty of Communication, Media and Creative Industries (whew, what a mouthful) were scrambling. Their final year project was coming up, and they were wondering: how could they create something that would leave its mark on the university, and at the same time, make an impact on the community? Enter SinimaFest: a labour of love borne from a team of sleep-deprived college kids. With its name cleverly derived from 'Cinema', combined with the Malay phrase 'Sini, ma!' (Here, ma!), SinemaFest is a film festival created by students, for students. The organisation of the festival is almost entirely run by FCMCI students, and the films shown were all created by the students from HELP and other universities, including UNM!
Even upon entering the building, you could tell that there was a certain vibrancy in the air– an uncontainable excitement buzzing about the crowd of students, filmmakers, and creatives. And speaking to the organising team, one could easily gather why. The passion that lit up their eyes as they spoke, the words tumbling out of their mouths as they rushed to share about the event that inundated their lives for the past couple of months. This wasn’t any old project; it was the culmination of all their hard work, not only in organising the event, but also in the past three years, honing their skills and perfecting the craft they have devoted themselves to.
SinimaFest started off strong with a fun live play segment to get the audience’s energy up. This was followed up with a welcoming speech from Project Coordinator Ashley Chua. In her speech, she expressed, “This festival aims not only to create film, but to create meaning together”, which I felt captured the essence of filmmaking and creative fields as a whole. After a speech from the Faculty Head, Ms Sheena, they screened a documentary that showcased the process of bringing SinimaFest into fruition. It really gave a deeper sense of the effort these students took in order to actualise the festival. In spite of all the challenges and hurdles they faced, they still worked their hardest to ensure SinimaFest was a success (and I would say that it was a resounding one).
From there, it was lights out and away we went! The audience dispersed into the many screening rooms, which played two films each. There were 10 films in total, and though I missed two of them, the ones that I did manage to catch were a joy to behold. Some personal highlights would be:
Warisan Kasih (by Lee Xuen and Farisha from TARUMT): A real throwback to old school Malay films. With its vivid colouring and epic keris fights, I was transfixed the entire time. Not to mention that behind the visually captivating scenes, it told a beautiful story of motherhood and the unbreakable bond of a family.
A Script by… (by Kishan Kumar from Sunway): Slightly disjointed, slightly off-kilter, Kishan Kumar explores the experience of creative blockage. He perfectly captured the frustration and monotony of being unable to create no matter how much you try. Definitely did NOT make me feel a little called out (for sure..).
The Little One (by Wajihah Athar and SIM from UCSI): While it did seem like a typical horror film at first glance, The Little One was actually a very powerful exploration of grief, acceptance and growth. While I tried to be creeped out by it, I couldn’t help but be endeared by the talented kid starring as the possessed younger sister (shoutout to her!)
Even though I have only mentioned a few, the experience of watching all the other shorts was a blast too. Were these films perfect? Of course not. But who even knows what a perfect movie is anyway? I sure don’t. What I do know is that these films, despite averaging 10 minutes on average and produced by college students, were more than enough to reassure me that the local creative scene is in good hands. What they lacked in multimillion-dollar budgets, they made up for with passion and vision.
Huge thanks to the SinimaFest team for the invite and for organising this space to share their love for the craft. The celebration and spotlight on student creativity are exactly what we need in these times, when the appreciation of creating art is becoming a scarcity (cough, AI). This event reminded me that film, and art in general, is not only a form of self-expression, but also a means of communication to humanity. Art holds far more significance than just entertainment; it’s a way of finding community. Rest assured that our film industry is in good hands, because these students understood the importance of the craft, and the result was a heartfelt tribute to the past, present and future of this field.
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