Petaling Jaya – The 2013 feature film KIL received its Latin American premiere when it competed at the International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre 2014 (Fantaspoa 2014). The film, co-produced by Grand Brilliance and Flux Visual Lab and presented by Primeworks Studios, represented Malaysia in the Panorama competition section and was screened on May 15 and May 17.
In the Panorama competition, a section exhibiting films with thought-provoking themes, KIL was in the running against 10 other critically-acclaimed films including the Canadian comedy-drama The Dirties, and Slovenian film Feed Me With Your Words by director Martin Turk. The award winners were announced as the festival drew to a close on May 25, of which the Best Film in the Panorama section was clinched by the Kazakh-German-French co-productionHarmony Lessons.
Fantaspoa is the first festival in Brazil dedicated to fantastic films, comprising of science fiction, fantasy and horror genres. KIL’s participation at this largest fantastic film festival in Latin America was all the more meaningful as this year marked the festival’s tenth anniversary, with a programme comprising of more than 150 films over its 17-day run.
Earlier this year in April, KIL was also the sole Malaysian production to join the programme line-up at the Southeast Asian Film Festival 2014. The film was screened to a full house on April 13 at the Singapore Art Museum. The film festival included 20 film screenings of the most compelling cinematic work emerging from Southeast Asia, and ran from April 11 to May 4.
“Grand Brilliance is really excited to see KIL making its rounds internationally. We are truly happy that this small film with a big heart has struck a chord with audiences worldwide. Grand Brilliance is elated with this success and this will spur us to continue fulfilling our true passion: crafting Asian stories for the world,” said Tengku Iesta Tengku Alaudin, General Manager of Grand Brilliance.
KIL is the directorial debut of Nik Amir Mustapha and received its worldwide premiere at Marche du Film, Cannes in May 2013 before being released in Malaysian theatres later that month. The film, commended for its ability to highlight the negative subject of suicide in a feel-good way, has participated in various festivals including Luang Prabang Film Festival 2014, Dhaka International Film Festival 2014 and Osaka Asian Film Festival 2014.
