On 24th April 2021, the 3rd Edition of the UBD-FASS Term Screening (2020-2021 Academic Year) took place in Lecture Hall 2, ICTC UTH Building, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

The screening showcased a total of eight short films, including five fiction shorts, two animations, and one documentary short made by students enrolled in the Design and Creative Industries (DCI) Programme of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at UBD.

The opening short film of the Term Screening was Ejen Kriminal, which was produced by a group of DCI students and won the Jury Award in the 4th Brunei Film Blitz in December 2020. The closing film for this year’s Term Screening was Episode 1 of Jaguh, a short film series.

The invited media professional commentators for the Term Screening included Mr. Aaqiil Ahmad from Filterworks Productions, Mrs. Mariah Zaharaa Abdullah, and Mr. Oggi Satriyo Yudhanto both from Oddbox Pictures Sdn Bhd. UBD co-operation partner Progresif Sdn Bhd representative Ms Olivia Ong, Head of Progresif Media, was also present at the screening. Also in attendance were Dr Rui Oliveira Lopes, Programme Leader of DCI, other academic and administrative staff from UBD, and student filmmakers as well as their friends and families.

The Term Screening has been co-organised by Dr. Yong Liu, Programme Coordinator of DCI and Ms. Mayyer Ling Mohammad Tony Ling of English Studies for the third straight year.

Feedback and constructive criticism from the invited media professional commentators and judges at every screening of student works have proven to be valuable input to improve the delivery and contents of academic programmes, university-hosted artistic events, and quality of screen works produced by students. As such, each year the DCI programme has been able to send more and more student works to national, regional and international film festivals and screen competitions.

The most recent international achievement of DCI student films includes three short films Anak Ayah (2020), Bunga (2019) and Suara (2019), which were selected into the Asia Rising 2021 online screening (1-9 April) organised by Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore; and two horror shorts Haunted (2020) and The Phone (2020) which were made by DCI students and screened at the opening party of the Children of the Night International Dracula Congress 2021 (16-18 April), hosted by Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Poland, and the virtual platform hansderoos.com created by Hans Corneel de Roos, an independent Dracula researcher based in Netherlands, Germany and the Philippines.

Also on 16 April, Bunga was selected for the 50th Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival in Germany, which is regarded as one of the most prestigious and acclaimed student film festivals in Europe. In late July 2021, Bunga will represent UBD to compete for the position of best children’s film in the Future: Kids section in the 50th Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival.