The award ceremony for the 6th PRISM Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Short Film Festival took place at Lecture Hall 2, University Technology Hub (UTH), UBD on Thursday.
Under the theme 'Crisis and Opportunity,' the festival received over 50 submissions from students, including those from local and ASEAN institutions.
Finalists included works from Mahakarya Institute of the Arts Asia (MIAA), Politeknik Brunei, UBD, Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA), and three institutions from Thailand: Bangkok University, Srinakharinwirot University, and King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang.
As in past editions, Dr. Yong Liu from the Design and Creative Industries (DCI) program and Mayyer Ling from the English Studies program co-organized this year's festival.
The 6th Edition PRISM featured six award categories: Best Animated Short Film, Best Documentary Short Film, Best Experimental Short Film, Best Fiction Short Film, Best Social Media Content (with a theme on mental health), and the People’s Choice Award.
Local media professionals and an international juror from the University of Transilvania in Brasov decided the winners of the first five categories, while the People’s Choice Award was determined by online voting on Progresif Media.
Within just under two weeks on Progresif Media platforms, this year's People’s Choice Award received a total of 1,549 votes, surpassing last year's count by over 200 votes.
The recipients in all five competition categories are as follows: "Jungle" from MIAA, Brunei, secured the Best Animation Short Film Award; "Wonder Kids" from Politeknik Brunei claimed the Best Documentary Short Film Award; "Aimagination" from Bangkok University and Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand, earned the Best Experimental Short Film Award; "I Am an Iron" from UBD won the Best Social Media Content Award with a theme on mental health; and "Watch Over Me" from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand, received the Best Fiction Short Film Award.
Each winner was awarded a BND500 cash prize, generously supported by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at UBD.
The highly anticipated People’s Choice Award was presented to "When the Light’s Gone" from UBD, receiving a total of 189 online votes. They were granted a BND300 cash prize sponsored by Tech Haven.
