| James Kon |
IT HAS been an eventful 2018 for aspiring local filmmaker Abdul Zainidi.
The talented, young filmmaker has left for the Busan Asian Film School in Korea after he was awarded the scholarship by Busan film academy.
He will be there for six months, acquiring deeper knowledge on the commercial aspects of filming.
Before leaving the Sultanate recently, Abdul Zainidi completed the shooting and an interview with Channel NewsAsia for Singapore’s TV documentary titled, ‘The Asean I Know,’ which will air on May 11 this year.
The Channel NewsAsia crew was in Brunei to film at the site where Abdul Zainidi had filmed his local horror flick, ‘Vanishing Children’.
He was interviewed by Channel NewsAsia Producer Augustine.
Earlier this year, Abdul Zainidi was in Europe to attend the Amsterdam Film Festival, which focusses on science fiction. He was also in Paris to complete his ‘Vanishing Children’ film that was shot in Brunei Darussalam and Paris.
Speaking to the Weekend Bulletin, Abdul Zainidi said, “The protagonist of the film is Abdol, and the story of his brother who went missing in Brunei. Having to deal with the disappearance while in Paris, Abdol – who is a writer – finds the inspiration to write vanishing children, including the account of his own brother in Brunei.
“This is a metaphor for who I am as a writer; when I first arrived in Paris from Brunei and discovered that I was made for writing stories. Vanishing Story 4 is the prequel to the other Vanishing Children series. It will be entered into the short film corner of the Cannes Film Festival,” he said.
“I will not be able to attend (Cannes Film Festival) this year as I will be in Busan, so my editor will be attending it in May. I felt privileged and honoured that my film is representing Brunei at the film festival,” he added.
Discussing his course in Busan, he said, “It will be more on the commercial and business aspects of film making, and is sponsored by the Busan Film Academy. I will graduate in October this year.”
In response to his journey as a local filmmaker thus far, he said, “I am very lucky and blessed. I was able to meet many people through overseas workshops and film festivals. Through networking, people hear about my works and help spread the word about them. My films were then recommended into film festivals globally.”