1 Mar – The first ever Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFEST) has officially kicked off yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. The opening ceremony for MIFFEST was held at Nu Sentral Shopping Centre, attended by key industry players from both local and international film scenes. Ms. Joanne Goh, Chairman of MIFFEST & Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) expressed her distinct pleasure in being entrusted to organise the inaugural festival, saying that not only does it give audiences a chance to celebrate the best of local and international films, it also helps to promote the local art and culture. There are a total of 21 movies that will be screened during the festival, including the three Special Screening movies: "After This Our Exile" (Hong Kong), "Blind Way" (China) and "Redha" (Malaysia). Another eighteen movies that will be shown throughout the festival are also nominees for the upcoming MGGA, set to be held this Sunday. There are a total of seven categories at the awards show and all eighteen movies are vying to win in the Best Film category.
The winners for MGGA will be decided by the jury panel led by Kim Dong Ho, founder and Honorary Festival Director of South Korea's world-renowned Busan International Film Festival. Members of the jury include Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann, Chinese filmmaker Prof. Xie Fei, Germany filmmaker Andreas Dresen, Indonesian filmmaker Garin Nugroho, and Taiwanese producer Yeh Ju-Feng. Kim Dong Ho said that all the movies are "remarkably good" but he believes that he and his team will be able to evaluate fairly. Meanwhile Andreas Dresen, whose movie "Timm Thaler" was also the opening film for MIFFEST, stated that it was a great honour to be invited to be part of the festival. Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFEST) is taking place until 4 March 2017 at mmCineplexes Damansara PJ, TGV Cinemas Sunway Velocity and TGV Cinemas KLCC. Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) will be held on 5 March 2017 at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting.