UCSI Holds Inaugural International Film Festival

KUALA LUMPUR: An evening with a Danish man who manages an orphanage in India and a Polish novice nun. UCSI University (UCSI) students were introduced to them not in person, but through the award-winning films, ‘After the Wedding’ and ‘Ida’. Both were screened on the first day of the two-day UCSI International Film Festival (IFF) held at its KL Campus.

Organised by the UCSI Social Science and Liberal Arts Association, the event aimed to promote integration and widen perspectives. The movies selected for the UCSI IFF were foreign films and are critically acclaimed, having won or been nominated for Academy Awards.

“Films are interesting journeys into different lives, worlds and cultures and this festival is a platform for students to experience that,” said Assoc Prof Dr Chan Nee Nee, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts.

Her views were echoed by His Excellency, Nicolai Ruge, Ambassador for the Royal Danish Embassy in Malaysia.

The guest of honour, His Excellency delivered a short speech introducing Denmark and its society.

He added that education institutions play an important role in grooming talents who are innovative, something that is increasingly in-demand.

“In the future, jobs will not be done under instruction – the jobs will be intellectual ones. So the education system needs to groom people who have talent and are able to add value to their jobs every day,” he said.

The successful event was also praised by Pawel Slon, Culture and Education Officer, for the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Malaysia.

“UCSI is the first university where we screened ‘Ida’. The fact that your students organised this event and could appreciate this film, shows that they have a lot of positive energy and drive here,” he said.

Co-advisor and lecturer Ken Choong pointed out that tertiary education should not be about passing exams. It should challenge students to discover new perspectives of the world and think out of the box.

“I find that Asian students are more likely to self-censor themselves – even when it is unnecessary! So by watching foreign movies like ‘Ida’, which is in black and white, I want them to step out of their comfort zone and think,” he said with a smile.

Getting the students to organise the festival is also important to give them the hands-on skills needed to hit the ground running at work, said co-advisor James Ly Toong Kwok.

“Unlike science where there are experiments and tangible results, arts can start off with an idea. The common problem is when people can come up with ideas but they fail at the execution aspect,” shared Ly.

He added that by getting students to drive the UCSI IFF, “They don’t just talk. They do. Employers want that trait.”

Jenice The Jia Yi, the organising chairperson of the UCSI IFF, agreed.

“By planning this event, I discovered my own leadership style. This will give me an edge in my future career,” said the BA (Hons) Mass Communication student.

Day two of the festival featured two more foreign films, ‘Silence’ which details a sound recordist’s efforts to record natural sounds and ‘Kon-Tiki’, a historical drama about a Norwegian explorer who can’t swim but embarks on a 4,300 nautical mile journey on a raft.

The films were provided by the Embassy of Ireland and the Royal Norwegian Embassy, respectively.