MIFFEST Programmer Mr. Ong Lay Jin and Chairman of MIFFEST & MGGA Ms. Joanne Goh at the recent press conference.

10 Feb – Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFEST) and Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) have announced the movies that will be screened as well as the movies that will compete at the inaugural film festival and awards ceremony.

"After eight months of preparation, the first Malaysia International Film Festival and Malaysia Golden Global Awards are finally just around the corner," said Chairman of MIFFEST & MGGA Ms. Joanne Goh at the press conference recently.

Adding that the committee has less than three weeks to go before the big day, Goh hopes that the event "will be a memorable one for everyone who participates".

The movies chosen for MIFFEST and MGGA include both local and international titles.

The opening film will be Germany's "Timm Thaler" and the closing film will be Japanese drama film "Harmonium" by Koji Fukada.

Malaysia's very own "Interchange", directed by Dain Said, will be going up against the likes of "Apprentice" (Singapore), "Singing in Graveyards" (Malaysia / Philippines) and "The Wailing" (Korea) at this year's MGGA.

The aforementioned three titles will also be part of MIFFEST Screening Competition Films section, which will screen all eighteen movies competing for the MGGA Best Film.

MIFFEST will also hold a Special Screening section for three movies: "After This Our Exile" (Hong Kong), "Blind Way" (China) and "Redha" (Malaysia).

Dain Said's "Interchange" is nominated in three out of the seven categories in MGGA.

Apart from the movie announcement, the various categories for MGGA were also revealed. The nominees are:

Best New Director
Bradley Liew, "Singing in Graveyards"
Chu Hsien-Che, "White Ant"
Zhang Dalei, "The Summer is Gone"
Wu Chung-Tien, "One Night Only"
Boo Junfeng, "Apprentice"

Best Screenplay
Maren Ade, "Toni Erdmann"
Midi Z, "The Road to Mandalay"
Lam Wing Sum, Li Yuan, Xu Yi-Meng, Wu Nan, "Soulmate"
Khyentse Norbu, "Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait"
Na Hong-Jin, "The Wailing"
Paul Laverty, "I, Daniel Blake"
Asghar Farhadi, "The Salesman"
Ren Peng, Lee Yuyu, "One Night Only"
Chu Hsien-che, "White Ant"
Troy Espiritu, "Ma' Rosa"
Zhang Dalei, "The Summer is Gone"
Paolo Genovese, Filippo Bologna, Paolo Costella, Paola Mammini, Rolando Ravello, "Perfect Strangers"
Redza Mihat, Dain Said, "Interchange"
Boo Junfeng, "Apprentice"
Florence Chan, "Mad World"
Liu Zhen Yun, "I Am Not Madame Bovary"
Bradley Liew, Bianca Balbuen, "Singing in Graveyards"
Lo Yiu Fai, "Happiness"

Best Cinematography
Benoit Soler, "Apprentice"
Charlie Lam, "One Night Only"
Fabrizio Lucci, "Perfect Strangers"
Hong Kyung-pyo, "The Wailing"
Hossein Jafarian, "The Salesman"
Jake Pollock, Jing-Ping Yu, "Soulmate"
Jigme Tenzing, "Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait"
Jordan Chiam, "Interchange"
Kenny Tse, "Happiness"
Larry Manda, "Singing in Graveyards"
Lei Heng, "White Ant"
Lu Songye, "The Summer is Gone"
Odyssey Flores, "Ma' Rosa"
Pan Luo, "I Am Not Madame Bovary"
Patrick Orth, "Toni Erdmann"
Paul Laverty, "I, Daniel Blake"
Tom Fan, "The Road to Mandalay"
Zhang Ying, "Mad World"

Best Director
Maren Ade, "Toni Erdmann"
Midi Z, "The Road to Mandalay"
Brillante Mendoza, "Ma' Rosa"
Feng Xiaogang, "I Am Not Madame Bovary"
Na Hong-Jin, "The Wailing"

Best Actor
Kai Ko, "The Road to Mandalay"
Aaron Kwok, "One Night Only"
Eric Tsang, "Mad World"
Kwak Do Won, "The Wailing"
Shahab Hosseini, "The Salesman"

Best Actress
Kara Wai, "Happiness"
Zhou Dong Yu, "Soulmate"
Wu Ke-xi, "The Road to Mandalay"
Jaclyn Jose, "Ma' Rosa"
Sandra Huller, "Toni Erdmann"

Best Film
"Apprentice" (Singapore)
"Happiness" (Hong Kong)
"Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait" (Bhutan / Hong Kong)
"I Am Not Madame Bovary" (China)
"I, Daniel Blake" (United Kingdom)
"Interchange" (Malaysia)
"Ma' Rosa" (Philippines)
"Mad World" (Hong Kong)
"One Night Only" (China)
"Perfect Strangers" (Italy)
"Singing in Graveyards" (Malaysia / Philippines)
"Soulmate" (Hong Kong)
"The Road to Mandalay" (Taiwan)
"The Salesman" (Iran / France)
"The Summer is Gone" (China)
"The Wailing" (Korea)
"Toni Erdmann" (Germany)
"White Ant" (Taiwan)

There are also two Special Awards whose recipients have yet to be announced: Lifetime Achievement In Films Award and Friends of Malaysia In Film Award.

Another category, The Audience Choice Awards, will be voted for by moviegoers, who only have to drop their ticket stubs in the voting box after watching the movies in participating cinemas.

Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFEST) will run from 28 February until 4 March 2017 at NU Sentral Shopping Centre.

Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) will be held on 5 March 2017 at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting.