This year’s event, which takes place from October 16 to 19 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, promises to bring audiences a convergence of cinema, theatre and visual arts. This year’s theme, Through The Cracks, reflects the powerful cultural and social movements taking place in the region.
Director Dain Said, director of the SeaShorts Film Festival, shared that as the SeaShorts Film Festival enters its 10th year, the organizers wish to expand cultural dialogue across borders and art forms, with cinema at the center.
Of the 703 films submitted from 11 Southeast Asian countries, the organizers selected 40 works to compete, a record number in the history of the event, with the largest number coming from Indonesia and the Philippines. The SeaShorts Film Festival's artistic program director, Eddy Tan, said the theme Through The Cracks shows that while the political , economic and ethical situations are constantly changing, cinema, especially short films, still find their own way.
In addition to the competition categories, SeaShorts 2025 will also host special programs, including Shorts+, which celebrates women directors and cinematographers in Southeast Asia; Beyond Indian Shores, which continues to highlight contemporary Tamil cinema; Heatseeker Malaysia and Heatseeker Japan, which showcase Malaysian and Japanese student films; and JAFF Picks, in partnership with the Jogja Asian Film Festival - NETPAC (JAFF), which showcases emerging young filmmakers from the region. The festival will also feature a series of talks and masterclasses on the art of cinema.
One of the highlights of the SeaShorts 2025 Festival is the fusion of stage and cinema in a live performance by the Malaysian community arts group Sekolah Main Wayang. This time, the group brings the play Chemor Mai Pasak (Ruai) (roughly translated: The Legend of the Ancestors), directed by stage director Ayam Fared and multimedia artist Fairuz Sulaiman, and performed by 13 Semai teenagers from Bota, Perak.
The performance is a tribute to the cultural heritage and creativity of Malaysia’s indigenous Orang Asli community. Over the past year, the Sekolah Main Wayang has also participated in the Awas Mawas puppet parade and held art exhibitions in various parts of Malaysia, demonstrating the vitality of community arts.
Not only dedicated to the indigenous community, SeaShorts 2025 also recognizes the remarkable development of Tamil art in Malaysia. The documentary Araro Ariraro resonated by reviving the forgotten Tamil folk songs in plantation labor communities.
Building on that success, Beyond Indian Shores, launched in 2024, returns to explore the South Asian diaspora in contemporary Malaysian visual culture. Tamil short films from Malaysia and Sri Lanka highlight the historical connections and creative exchanges between the two countries. The programme is curated by curators Gogularaajan Rajendra and Lena Srinivasan, who are deeply involved in Tamil cinema.
For the first time, SeaShorts Film Festival presents Nusantara Focus – a cinematic journey through the Indonesian archipelago from Aceh to North Kalimantan, from Sumbawa to Timika-Papua and all the way to vibrant Jakarta. In collaboration with Eagle Institute Indonesia, the series offers fresh perspectives, reflecting the rich and diverse life across the Indonesian archipelago.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/the-gioi-sang-tao-o-lien-hoan-phim-ngan-dong-nam-a-post818797.html
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