“My Sekolah” Short Film Competition

Reported by ELC

       A team of enthusiastic students from Senior Three Adelaide and Manchester clinched the Best Storytelling Award under the “My Sekolah” Short Film Competition  organized by IACT College. They bagged RM1,000 cash for their effort, out of which RM300 will go to the school. Together with this, the team was also presented with a trophy. The team was led by Fong Xin Qian from S3 Adelaide, along with his team members Tan Xun, Heng Khai Je, Richard Carlos, Alvin Liew Chye Wei, Lim Shuang and Ivan Tan Vyi Han. The short film is entitled “1969.” It is about the protagonist along with two of her classmates trying to save their school from being closed down due to the low enrolment of students in the late 60s. Many independent schools were on the verge of closing down due to the lack of students. The short film reflects the hardship the members of the school had to go through in order to overcome the challenge.

       The finalists were given the opportunity to present their work to the panel of judges which consisted of IACT College broadcasting programme leader and lecturer, Mr. Cyrus Tan Kok Sung, McCann Mala

ysia executive creative director, Mr. Gavin E. Hoh and stand-up comedian, Dr Jason Leong. The short films were uploaded onto mysekolah.my for public voting and judging by the college’s industry experts. Held in partnership with Study Hub Asia and sponsors Milo and Domino’s Pizza, the competition aimed at providing a platform to discover young creative talents across the country. The competition received a total of 302 video submissions from more than 170 schools nationwide. The competition was catered to secondary school students aged 16 to 18, aiming to give them opportunity to share about their school and expose them to pursue a career in the communication industry.

       The team, “Seven Musketeers” came together in early August this year to prepare for the competition. Fong Xin Qian, who is also the director of the film, led his team in discussions and preparations before the day of the shoot. The main storyline and script was produced with the help of Co-director Tan Xun, and actors Richard Carlos and Alvin Liew from S3 Manchester and Adelaide respectively. Since this was a small scale production, actors were secured before writing the script, unlike conventional productions where actors were cast after the script was written. This allowed the team to tailor the storyline around the actors’ personalities, creating a more natural and true to heart friendship that is portrayed within the film. The team also spent time trying to implement certain humour aspects into the film to lighten the storyline.

       During the day of the filming, the team met up early in the morning to ensure the light was soft enough for shooting. The filming of the first scene started at 8.00 a.m. The second scene was shot at SJK(C) Taman Rashna, with the permission of its kind principal. All in all, the entire shoot took up ten hours of filming around Shah Alam and Klang areas. 

       During the award ceremony, one of the judges, Mr. Cyrus Tan, commented on how the film paid a lot of attention to little details from the scripting to the filming and editing. Mr. Gavin Ho, on the other hand praised the performance of the actors. Although the team fell short of the Best Short Film award, it was still well received among the judges and audience. To view the short films, visit www.mysekolah.org/top-22-finalists.

Fong Xin Qian（Director、S3 Adelaide)

       I enjoy every chance I get to make a short film with my friends. It’s not only for the excitement, but also the experience we gain every time we put in our effort to create a creative work of art together. This time it was no different. The filming and preparation of “1969” was truly a blast and surely an unforgettable memory for us. Each member of the team is talented in their own different ways. Although we didn’t achieve what we aimed for, we came close to it and that’s a great motivation for all of us. I would like to take this chance to thank my co-director Tan Xun and Heng Khai Je, my assistant Ivan Tan Vyi Han and our actors Lim Shuang, Alvin Liew Chye Wei and Richard Carlos, from S3 Adelaide and S3 Manchester, for an amazing experience and journey! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers and fellow students who voted for us.