Kongdej Jaturanrasame, Pimpaka Towira, Sheila Timothy and Mouly Surya join the Academy for Southeast Asian Filmmakers Teaching Staff
26 March 2015, London: MOFILM today announced that the award winning filmmakers Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Pimpaka Towira, Sheila Timothy and Mouly Surya have joined the academic team who will deliver the inaugural sessions of the Academy of Southeast Asian Filmmakers (ASAF) as presented by Chevrolet and MOFILM. The fee-free academy is a three-day course, created and delivered by experts from the local and international filmmaking industry. It will cover several aspects of filmmaker theory and practice, with a focus on developing the storytelling skills. The Academy will take place in Jakarta on the 11th to 13th of May, and in Bangkok on the 15th, 16th and 18th of May 2015. Filmmakers who are citizens of Southeast Asia and are over the age of 18 can apply at www.MOFILM.com/ASAF, the deadline is the 7th April 2015. All entrants will also have the opportunity to enter a competition to produce short format film content for Chevrolet.
Jeffrey Merrihue, CEO & Founder of MOFILM, said "The aim of the Academy is to help young filmmakers, who are just starting out, to develop skills to build the career they want. To be able to hear from such successful local filmmakers will be invaluable."
Kongdej Jaturanrasame
Mark Harland, Director of Marketing at General Motors International, said "Partnering with MOFILM gives us the best of both worlds - we're able to open new possibilities for up-and-coming filmmakers by giving them a platform to share their craft, and it provides us with tremendous content for our brand to utilize."
Writer and Director Mouly Surya is regarded as one of Indonesia's most promising film talents with her work receiving recognition from both Indonesian and International Film Festivals, including Sundance and Rotterdam International Film Festival. Sheila Timothy is a well-known Indonesian producer, who started her career in advertising and the music industry before moving to feature films. Her work has been recognised by several film festivals and her third feature Tabula Rasa won four awards at the Indonesian Film Festival 2014.
Pimpaka Towira is a Thai independent filmmaker who writes, directs and produces all of her films. Pimpaka is a pioneer for female film directors in Thailand and as a result, she won the Silpathorn Award in 2009, distributed by the Ministry of Culture in Thailand. Best known for his romantic comedies, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee received a Silpathorn award in 2014; a national award in honour for living Thai contemporary artists who have made notable contributions to Thai fine arts and culture, presented annually by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture of Thailand.
More tutors from the Thai and Indonesian film and TV industries will be announced shortly.
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Note to Editors: Filmmaker Biographies
Kongdej Jaturanrasamee
Kongdej Jaturanrasamee is an award-winning Thai screenwriter and film director. After graduating from the film department at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Kongdej became a film professor at Assumption University.
He began his career in the late 1990s directing music videos, before becoming a feature film director and making his directorial debut with the 2003 comedy Sayew (winning the Asian Trade-Wind honourable mention at the Seattle Film Festival).
He is best known today for popular romantic films, including The Letter (2004), which he penned as a remake of the 1997 Korean film Pyeonji. Kongdej also co-wrote the Tony Jaa action flick Tom-Yum-Goong (2005). Other films he has written and directed are Midnight My Love (winner of won Best Script at the Deauville Asian Film Festival 2005), Handle Me with Care (made with GTH film studio, the largest film studio in Thailand in 2008), P-047 (2011) and his 2013 film Tang Wong(winner of Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay at Supannahong Award 2013).
Pimpaka Towira
Pimpaka Towira is a Thai independent filmmaker who writes, directs and produces all of her films. She is decidedly in the art-house camp of filmmakers. She was educated in Film at the University in Bangkok and went on to work as a film critic and writer for The Nation newspaper in Bangkok after graduating.
She went on to make a number of experimental short films, among which was a short called Mae Nak, which won a Special Jury Prize at the Image Forum Festival in 1998
Pimpaka's feature film debut One Night Husband (2003) brought her international fame. She is the first female Thai filmmaker to be noticed by international viewers and critics alike.
She is also part of the Free Thai Cinema Movement, for whom in 2007 she directed a series of short films, which featured interviews with Thai film directors and artists opposed to censorship of films by the Thai government.
Mouly Surya
Surya is an Indonesian film director whose debut feature Fiksi gained her recognition in her home country when it won the Citra Award at Festival Film Indonesia for Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Music and Best Original Screenplay. It also won her a Best Director award at JIFFEST 2008.
Her second film What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love was the first Indonesian film to ever compete in the main competition (World Cinema Dramatic Competition) at Sundance Film Festival 2013. It won the NETPAC award at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam as the Best Asian film. It also won the awards for Best Music in Asia Pacific Film Festival 2013 and Best New Director in Las Palmas Film Festival in Spain. In its home country, the film won three out of four awards given by Akademi Film Indonesia in 2014 for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Film.
Sheila Timothy
Sheila is a well-known Indonesian producer who spent many years of her career in advertising and the music industry before moving to feature films. In 2008, she and her husband (Luk Wanandi) established their new film company Lifelike Pictures.
She gained recognition after producing the film Pintu Terlarang (The Forbidden Door) for Joko Anwar, which went on to win Best Film at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PIFAN) in 2009.
She has since gone onto produce her second feature Modus Anomali, which premiered at the SXSW Festival and won the Bucheon Award at the 4th Network of Asian Fantastic Films NAFF in 2011. Her third feature Tabula Rasa, released in September 2014, gaining critical acclaim and winning four awards at the Indonesian Film Festival 2014.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 115 countries and selling around 4.8 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
About MOFILM
MOFILM is the leading content creation community for aspiring filmmakers and photographers, with members all over the world. MOFILM works with global brands to showcase talent and create innovative new ideas.
MOFILM's creative are valued by brands. Our competitions give our partners a chance to tap a huge reservoir of international talent, as well as developing a wealth of content to be distributed online and via mobile devices. MOFILM contests also help brands engage with creative talent around the globe.
MOFILM provides production grants, along with mentoring and advice throughout the entire creative process of their competitions, from script to final edit, to ensure that the filmmakers have the best opportunity for their work to be used by that brand.
For more information about MOFILM, visit www.mofilm.com