| Lyna Mohamad & Ishan Ibrahim |
A SERIES of film dialogue sessions called Wayang Kitani are being held every Tuesday night from December 11 to 25, as part of activities under Brunei Film Blitz.
The panel for the first night’s session consisted of Siti Kamaluddin – Brunei’s first female director, Professor Mark Shepherd from the University of Southern California, Dr Jana Heilmaier from Universiti Brunei Darussalam, and Rano Iskandar, a well known local social influencer.
The panelists talked about finding Brunei’s national film identity – for example what makes a film Bruneian and elements that portray the Bruneian identity in film – as well as intellectual property and how it can play a role in protecting the ideas and work of Bruneian filmmakers.
They agreed that there is a fine line between outright copying the work of prominent filmmakers and being influenced by their films.
Dr Heilmaier said that in this day and age with the borders within film being more open, the protection of intellectual property of remakes depends greatly on agreements and contracts between the country seeking to reproduce the original film and the country holding the intellectual property rights to it.
The panelists highlighted Brunei’s potential, noting that the country is “unexplored when it comes to cinema” and that there are “stories in Brunei Darussalam that have not been told”, with “several locations that can potentially be open to foreign productions”.
They identified a number of elements key in determining Brunei’s unique screen identity, such as the use of everyday Bruneian language and the portrayal of family life in the productions, also stressing that the size of the production budget is not the defining factor in determining identity.
Attending the dialogue were high school ‘Powered by Progresif’ students who have shown potential in filmmaking, high school educators, local budding and established filmmakers who also showcased their films – Safwan (Boundless), Adam Groves (Primajaya) and Max.
The Wayang Kitani sessions are part of several programmes planned as part of Professor Mark Shepherd’s visit to the country. The programmes will share the best of the US arts community with the world to foster cross-cultural understanding and collaboration and to demonstrate shared values and aspirations.
To reserve seats for the Brunei Film Blitz-Meet Mark Shepherd programme, visit www.bruneifilmblitz.org or call 8188777.