26 Jan – Following the success of the first edition of Tropfest SEA last year, the world's largest short film festival returns once again to The Esplanade, Penang for its second South East Asian edition this 1 February 2015. This year's Tropfest Signature Item (TSI), a specific item that must be included in each film submission, is wheels. 16 finalists from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines have made it to the last round and will be competing for the grand prize of USD12,000 (approximately RM43,000). The winner will also get to go on an industry immersion trip to Los Angeles, courtesy of the Motion Picture Association. Runners-up will each take home USD500. Last year's TSI was rice and first-time Cambodian filmmaker Sothea Ines won the grand prize with her short film simply titled "Rice". She returns to the festival this year as one of the speakers for its forum, Roughcut, which will also see the likes of cinematography master Christopher Doyle, Singaporean and Indonesian talents such as Kumar and Marissa Anita, and more in attendance.
Admission to Tropfest SEA is free. However, those who want a clearer view of the stage can try their luck at winning VIP tickets from several local radio stations. Not only that, the ticket winners will also get a chance to showcase their own short films. Gates at The Esplanade will open at 4pm and at 5.30pm the festival will kick off with musical performances by Jamie Wilson Trio, Platform 11 and Dasha Logan. There will also be other festival activities taking place. At 8pm, the finalists' films will be screened. Kumar, one of Singapore's well-known comedy figures, will make a special guest performance at 10.30pm. The most anticipated event of the night, the Awards Ceremony, will commence from 10.45pm onwards. Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton, who starred in 2014's "300: Rise of an Empire" as Themistocles, will be making his way to Penang to be one of the judges for Tropfest SEA 2015. For more information on Tropfest SEA, visit http://tropfest.com/sea.