The 4th Edition of PRISM UBD Short Film Festival successfully premiered on Saturday 20th November, 2021. The event was organised entirely online, with the theme “Prism of Creativity Amid Pandemic”. A newly launched “FASS UBD OFFICIAL” YouTube channel was used as the platform to screen all the 10 selected short films, all of which were produced in 2021 as FASS Design and Creative Industries (DCI) students’ coursework. As in previous editions, Dr Yong Liu from DCI and Mayyer Ling from English Studies co-organised this year’s festival.

PRISM was first organised in 2018 as a platform to showcase student media works to be submitted to international film festivals. Now, PRISM has grown into a platform to scout for budding directors, screenwriters, actors and actresses in Brunei, and the playing-field where novice filmmakers are able to meet with experts to share ideas, learn valuable skills, and have fruitful collaborations in the name of cinematic art.

In just a span of 24 hours, the 10 short films premiered in this year’s 4th Edition PRISM accumulated nearly 2,500 views on the FASS UBD OFFICIAL YouTube channel. There were over 150 individuals registered as part of the audience for the premiere, including those from local creative and media companies such as Radio Television Brunei (RTB), KAVA and Vertex Visual Films. There were also registered viewers from abroad including Australia, Malaysia, Qatar and Singapore.

Seven award categories are up for grabs in the 4th Edition PRISM: Best Short Film Award, Best Performance Award, Best Director Award, Best Cinematography Award, Best Editing Award and Best Screenplay Award and People’s Choice Award. Winners of the first six categories will be decided by a panel of local media professionals, while the People’s Choice Award will be decided by the viewers.

This year’s event was organised in collaboration with Progresif Media, an online streaming platform that features Bruneian-produced content. From Sunday 21st November to Tuesday 30th November, 2021, the 10 premiered short films are published on the Progresif Media website under ‘PRISM’ which is available for public viewing for free. There is a voting page under ‘PRISM’ for viewers to vote for their favourite short film to win the People’s Choice Award.

The winner for all awards, including the People’s Choice Award, will be announced during an Award Ceremony, which can be streamed on the FASS UBD OFFICIAL Youtube channel on Saturday 4th December, 2021.