KL Film Critics Have Spoken On 2018’s Best Films & Performances with list of Nominees

Anugerah Majlis Pengkritik Filem Kuala Lumpur 2018 has announced the list of nominees for the year’s filmography.

Read the additional notes written by Fadli al-Akiti (aka founder of film blog tontonfilem) for more insight into the nominees.

Who’s Nominated?

After abiding the customary rule of screening the movies from September 2017 to August 2018 within the nation, over 61 films have been listed to compete for categories such as Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and the acclaimed and much awaited award for Best Featured Film. It has been gushed for all year long that 2018 is one of the best cinematic period for the Malaysian film goers and makers with a variety that ranges from comedy, blockbusters to independent thrillers although, under the eye of the meticulous and experienced critics, the films they named are considered to be the pinnacle of the local cinema and some of them are, Dukun, Pulang, Crossroads: One Two Jaga and Shuttle Life.

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The Zenith of Cinema Today

Having witnessed these films in the cinema hall as both an on-the-job reviewer and the by-the-ticket-audience, the nominees are starkly different from one another and gone are the stereotype that only period films and dramas deserve to be on the seat of film festivals as we see the thriller, Crossroads: One Two Jaga being featured as a nominee for categories like Best Director (Nam Ron) and Best Cinematography (Helmi Yusof).

Other films that have bypassed expectations are the action-filled and violent Mrs. K centering on a woman protagonist (Kara Hui nominated for Best Actress) and the action-adventure, Tombiruo: Penunggu Rimba about a mystical creature of the forest from the Borneoan myths that’s contending for Best Cinematography (Khalid Zakariya).

History is also made for a film that debuted to the public after they’d finished production back in 2006 and even endured a leak footage of the movie online however, this did not halt Dukun, a horror-thriller (encroaching upon neo-noir) from being widely and successfully received in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. The film will be contesting at the Anugerah Majlis Pengkritik Filem Kuala Lumpur for titles such as Best Director (Dain Said), Best Actress (Umie Aida) and Best Featured Film.

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Representation As A Footnote

With a more diverse list, this year’s award ceremony gave a platform to non-Malay actors such as Sangeeta Krishnasamy (winner of Best Actress at the 29th Malaysian Film Festival for Adiwiraku) whose performance in the comedy, Vedigundu Pasangge is nominated by critics for Best Actress and films not in the Malaysian language like Mrs. K and Shuttle Life (nominated for several categories i.e. Best Featured Film).

It is still undeniable that “diversity” in the TV and film industry is still a concept that is sprinkled as an after-thought but with the list of nominees observed by the Malaysian critics, there is a leap into vitalizing representation for all and also highlighting the unique and varied talents in the country. Anugerah Majlis Pengkritik Filem Kuala Lumpur will be announcing the receivers for the contending titles as early as November this year.

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 Full List of Nominees for Kuala Lumpur’s Film Critics Award 2018

BEST DIRECTOR
Tan Seng Kiat for Shuttle Life 
Dain Said for Dukun
Kabir Bhatia for Pulang 
Nam Ron for Crossroads: One Two Jaga 
Al Jafree Md Yusop for Mencari Rahmat 

BEST ACTOR

Jalil Hamid for Bisik pada Langit
Remy Ishak for Pulang
Rosdeen Suboh for Crossroads: One Two Jaga
Nam Ron for Mencari Rahmat
Ameerul Affendi for Mencari Rahmat

BEST ACTRESS

Kara Hui for Mrs. K
Umie Aida for Dukun
Puteri Aishah for Pulang
Sangeeta Krishnasamy for Vedigundu Passange
Nadia Aqilah for Mencari Rahmat

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER

Teoh Gay Hian and Ho Yuhang for Mrs. K
Chen Ko Chin for Shuttle Life
Khalid Zakaria for Tombiruo: Penunggu Rimba
Zambree Haras for Pulang
Helmi Yusof for Crossroads: One Two Jaga

BEST SCREENPLAY

Maizura Ederis and Sofia J. Rhyland for Bisik pada Langit
Tan Seng Kiat and Chris Leong Siew Hong for Shuttle Life
Huzir Sulaiman for Dukun
Ayam Fared, Pitt Haniff, Nam Ron, Amri Rohayat and Muhammad Syafiq for Crossroads: One Two Jaga 
Al Jafree Md Yusop for Mencari Rahmat

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Bohari Ibrahim for Jibam
Faizal Hussein for Dukun
Rab Khalid for Hantu Kak Limah
Ario Bayu for Crossroads: One Two Jaga
Azman Hassan for Crossroads: One Two Jaga

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Ummi Nazeera for Bisik pada Langit
Sylvia Chang for Shuttle Life
Angel Chan for Shuttle Life
Farah Ahmad for Jibam
Adibah Noor for  Mencari Rahmat

BEST FILM

Shuttle Life (Roland Lee, Jin Ong, Kent Chan, Cheah Yee Lai and Angelin Ong as producers. Melvin Ang, C.S. Lim, Jerene Ong, Khim Kiat Ong and David Wei as executive producers)
Dukun (Dominique Hee as executive producer and producer)
Pulang (Irene Mariena Mohamad as producer. Tengku Iesta Tengku Alaudin and Nor Shahila Harun Shah as executive producers)
Crossroads: One Two Jaga (Rozi Izma Abdul Karim and Bront Palarae as producer. Rahmat Adam, Ario Bayu, Naeim Ghalili, Joanne Goh, Abd Samad Hassan, Razaisyam Rashid and Helmi Yusof as executive producers)
Mencari Rahmat (Zuli Ismail and Rahmat Adam as producers. Madnor Kassim, Siti Marzuliana Marzuki  and Sazrul Yacub as executive producers)

Who do you think will win each category? Leave us a comment!

 Featured Image source: Asian Movie Pulse.

List of Nominees Source can be found here. Read the footnote written by Fadli Al-Akiti for more insight into the films nominated.