Three UBD student films, Suara (2019), Bunga (2019) and Anak Ayah (2020) have been selected to be part of the ASIA RISING 2021: Showcase of Short Films from Universities in ASEAN, Japan, Korea & China online screening. The event is scheduled from 1 to 9 April and is organised by NUS Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore.

As a member of AUN Member Universities and ASEAN+3 University Network (ASEAN+3 UNet), UBD had been invited to submit up to three original short films, each of which was to be no more than 20 minutes long and completed between 2019 and 2020 by students currently attending a university, in order to participate in the aforementioned event.

According to the organisers, "there is a need to spur young filmmakers in ASEAN, Japan, Korea and China to pursue their craft of filmmaking and to establish platforms for the greater appreciation of the diversity of cultures and universality of human experience as seen through the lenses of young filmmakers."" Therefore, the theme of ASIA RISING 2021 is set as ‘FRAGMENTS’, which should be visually presented or related to in each selected short film.

After a jury panel review and deliberation, all the three UBD submitted films have been selected to be part of ASIA RISING 2021 screening, and all of them have received warm praise and reaction from the organisers, as one organiser recognised: "I just watched the 3 films submitted and they were wonderfully made, full of heart and technically strong. It made the work of vetting films feel less like work."

The three short films were all made as module assignments for three different screen media production modules offered by the Design & Creative Industries (DCI) Programme under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at UBD. At the time of this writing, the three groups of filmmakers are all current students majoring in DCI.

In particular, the Suara crewmembers are: Awg Muhammad Iqbal Bin Haji Masmin, Dyg Nur Izzatul Hanani Binti Mohammad Hanifah, and Dyg Afiqah Khairiyah Binti Haji Adnan.

The Bunga Crewmembers are: Awg Haji Abdul Hanis @Haji Muhammad Hanis Bin Awang Haji Hashim, Awg Mohammad Izzuddin Bin Haji Jali), Ak Muhammad Khairul Rahim Bin Pengiran Haji Sofri, and Awg Azman Fontanilla Bin Ahmad.

The Anak Ayah Crew Members are: Awg Mohammad Quzaimi Bin Abdul Rahim, Awg Muhammad Iqbal Bin Haji Masmin, Awg Akmal Muhammad Haziq Bin Ros Ketina, Awg Muhammad Dhiyaurrahman Bin Suhaimi, and Ak Mohammad Hisham Firdaus Bin Pengiran Haji Mohd. Fitri.

If you wish to find out more about the films or view any of them (with free registration), you can click on the links below:
Registration Link: bit.ly/EMCC-AsiaRising
Instagram: @nusemcc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExxonMobilCampusConcerts/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDKUjsO4ZLo