[For Immediate Release]

Media Kit Link: http://bit.ly/Media-Kit-KLEFF2020

16th September, Kuala Lumpur – The show must go on; the 13th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest (KLEFF 2020) set sail towards a digital course as the coronavirus outbreak continues.

The inaugural digital KLEFF festival is set to run week-long from the 19th to 25th of October, with yet another feast of sustainability-driven activities catered for all walks of life. With the theme “Climate (in)Justice: Pick A Side”, the festival received 118 film submissions from 44 countries, with 53 films confirmed to be screened during the festival.

“The decision to create a digital platform this year is motivated by the belief that environmental advocacy to fight climate injustice must go on, and the call for climate action never stops, even amidst a global pandemic,” said KLEFF Festival Director, Fadly Bakhtiar.

“The public confidence and partnering support by stakeholders in the last 12 years have been incredible thus far, hence strengthening our commitment and determination to execute a digital festival,” he continued.

With more list of program line-ups to be announced, KLEFF 2020 is set to showcase the flagship KLEFF film screening and award ceremony, the School of Sustainability (workshops and talks), Act4SDGs (SDG-driven initiatives), Green Vibes (live performances), a Digital Fundraising campaign and more.

“As the committee gears up to organizing yet another enriching eco-themed film festival, we are hopeful and driven to continue the environmental advocacy by any means necessary,” said Fadly.

KLEFF hit its 13 years of milestone with a stronger aspiration to bring climate- and eco-themed films to the national screen. In line with its mission to provide equal access to environmental education and implant the concept of sustainability into Malaysian consciousness – this year, KLEFF introduced a nationwide call for 10,000 public signatures to bring KLEFF films (past, present and future) into the mainstream media (national TV broadcast).

“KLEFF will continue to honour the stories, experiences and movement centered around sustainability and the environment to the highest standard,” echoed Fadly.

Stay tuned for more exciting news and updates regarding the 13th edition of KLEFF in the coming weeks. Visit the official KLEFF website for more information and get involved with the activities by clicking here. For partnership inquiries about KLEFF, contact Fadly Bakhtiar at fadly@ecoknights.org.my or contact Ms. Nabila at nabila@ecoknights.org.my for more inquiries about KLEFF.

-End –

ABOUT THE KUALA LUMPUR ECO FILM FEST (KLEFF)

The International KLEFF is Malaysia’s first and longest-serving platform promoting sustainable living through showcases of environment-themed films, workshops, talks, exhibitions, Impact Market, local performances and other engaging activities. Organized by the non-governmental organization, EcoKnights, KLEFF features groundbreaking films that kindle important dialogues, traversing the relationship between humans and their environments, challenging the way people think about the natural world and inspiring them to discuss, explore and act on important environmental issues.

Further information may be found at kleff.my

ABOUT ECOKNIGHTS

EcoKnights® is a non-governmental environmental organisation that provides and delivers development and environmental interventions to communities, government agencies, learning institutions, and companies to mobilise and catalyse the stakeholders towards sustainable development across trans- and interdisciplinary fields to build bridges towards achieving sustainable communities and companies across five main pillars. 

The pillars are Public Outreach, Community Development & Education (CDE), Rehabilitation, Restoration and Conservation (RRC) as well as Youth Development & Volunteerism (YDV), supported by Sustainability Communications. Each pillar helps to strengthen the legacy of EcoKnights as it empowers the Knights to ideate, create, run and organise meaningful projects to impart long-lasting sustainable and economic impact to the country.

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For media enquiries, please contact:
Fara Amina Othman,
Digital Content Officer of EcoKnights,
fara@ecoknights.org.my 

[ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ]

Media kit: https://bit.ly/PRkleffnomineefilms

Kuala Lumpur, August 2nd 2020 – The 13^th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest 2020 (KLEFF 2020) has announced that 53 films have been selected to be screened virtually in the festival. Out of the submitted films, 18 films made it to be the finalists of the 5 main film categories of KLEFF 2020.

The 5 main film categories are Best Feature Film/Full-Length Documentary, Best Short Documentary/TV Documentary, Best Short Film, Best Public Service Announcements (PSA), as well as Best Animation. Below are the finalists for the 5 main film categories of KLEFF 2020:

1. Best Feature Film / Full-Length Documentary Award (In Alphabetical order)

Film Title	Film Maker	Country
The Future of Flight	Larissa Klinker	Germany
MT. SUSWA – LIFE IN A VOLCANO	Oliver Goetzl	Germany
Pakistan’s Himalayan Meltdown	Shehzad Hameed Ahmad	Singapore

2. Best Short Documentary Award (In Alphabetical order)

Film Title	Film Maker	Country
From Kurils With Love	Taylor Reese	United States
Gitxsan: Our Land, Our Culture, Our Laws	Farhan Umedaly	Canada
I Am Vital	Florian Ledoux	France
Stolen Apes – Buanoi	Colin Sytsma	United States
Vaka	Kelly Moneymaker	New Zealand

3. Best Short Film Award (In Alphabetical order)

Film Title	Film Maker	Country
Because I Could	Niki J. Borger	United States
Ecology Lesson	Ivan Sosnin	Russian Federation
It’s Look Sunshine	Kim Seunghwan	South Korea

4. Best Animation Award (In Alphabetical order)

Film Title	Film Maker	Country
Gon, The Little Fox	Takeshi Yashiro	Japan
Shape Me	Alex Spoerndli	Switzerland
The Secret Life of Durian Trees	Hana Abdul Aziz	Malaysia

5. Best Public Service Announcement Award (In Alphabetical order)

Film Title	Film Maker	Country
Meet Ramon	Pilar Aldirico	Argentina
USLP Shower	Bauddhayan Mukherji	India
What happens to rain in the future	Toby Mory	Germany
Why It’s Crucial to Fight Corruption: Transparency International	Toby Mory	Germany

The 13^th Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest committee would like to congratulate the finalists of each categories of KLEFF 2020!

This year’s 12th KLEFF jury committee and judges are Fadly Bakhtiar, Festival Director of KLEFF 2020 and Programme Director of EcoKnights; Dr. Chen Pelf Nyok, turtle researcher, conservationist and co-founder of Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia (TCS); Elina Jani, Director of Green Innovations at Malaysian Green Technology Corporation; Iedil Dzuhrie Alaudin, Malaysia’s TV/film and stage actor; Kendy Mitot, artist of the indigenous Bidayuh tribe in Sarawak; and Justin Wong, filmmaker and co-founder of SCM Asia.

For more information about the Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest or its organizer, EcoKnights, please contact info@kleff.my or the festival manager, Nabila at nabila@ecoknights.org.my. For KLEFF partnership and collaboration, you may reach our KLEFF Festival Director at fadly@ecoknights.org.my.

– END –

ABOUT THE KUALA LUMPUR ECO FILM FEST (KLEFF)

The International KLEFF is Malaysia’s first and longest-serving platform promoting sustainable living through showcases of environment-themed films, workshops, talks, exhibitions, Impact Market, local performances and other engaging activities. Organized by EcoKnights, KLEFF features groundbreaking films that kindle important dialogues, traversing the relationship between humans and their environments, challenging the way people think about the natural world and inspiring them to discuss, explore and act on important environmental issues. For more information about KLEFF, kindly visit its official page at kleff.my and for more current updates, find us on Facebook at @KualaLumpurEcoFilmFestival and Instagram and Twitter at @kleff_my.

ABOUT ECOKNIGHTS

EcoKnights is an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) registered with the Registrar of Societies Malaysia. EcoKnights’ core focus areas are in environmental education; smart partnerships; strategic engagement and on-ground efforts as well as capacity building of youths. In these areas, EcoKnights focuses on working with key stakeholders to deliver strategically designed developmental interventions, further contributing to positive social, environmental and economic change. More information about EcoKnights can be obtained from www.ecoknights.org.my. For more current updates on what EcoKnights is up to, find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @EcoKnights.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Fara Amina Othman,
Digital Content Officer of EcoKnights,
fara@ecoknights.org.my / 011 – 23210492

[ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ]

Media kit: https://bit.ly/PRkleffselectedfilms

Kuala Lumpur, July 20th 2020 – The 13th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest 2020 (KLEFF2020) film competition received a total submission of 119 environmental films from 43 countries this year under the festival’s theme: ‘Climate (In)Justice – Pick A Side’.

From 8th – 11th October 2020, KLEFF 2020 will be screening 53 films via its digital screening platform, KLEFFlix during the virtual Festival Week. The following is the list of selected films that will be screened in KLEFF 2020:

Film Title	Filmmakers/ Film Directors	Country of Origin
VAKA	Kelly Moneymaker	New Zealand
Sh*t Saves the World	Troy Hale	United States
Why It’s Crucial to Fight Corruption: Transparency International – SDG 16	Toby Mory	Germany
What happens to rain in the future	Toby Mory	Germany
The Everglades – A Watery Wilderness	Zoltan Török	Germany
Ecology lesson	Ivan Sosnin	Russian Federation
GOOD JOB	Piotr Biedroń	Poland
Gold of Cajamarca	Alexandre Regol	Colombia
Sustainable Weddings	Grace Tan, Tan Chi Yin	Malaysia
Ez, eskerrik asko! Gladys Window	Bertha Gaztelumendi	Spain
Echilibru, Bear Foot	Jérôme Fatalot, Victor Jullien, Eve Cerubini	France
Pakistan’s Himalayan Meltdown	Shehzad Hameed Ahmad	Singapore
Wildlife- Our Lifeblood	Naresh Glow	India
The Secret Life of Durian Trees	Hana Abdul Aziz	Malaysia
AYEO	Jacob Updyke	United States
Species per aquam – Biodiversity between the Ticino Valley and the Alps	Marco Tessaro	Not Specified
I AM VITAL	Florian Ledoux	France
Cascarita	Jim Barrera	Mexico
H2O	Fathima Shanaz	Sri Lanka
The Return of The Mountain Chicken	Nicolas Eguren Cleffi	United Kingdom
All Eyes on The Amazon	Andrea Marinelli	Netherlands
Wings & Wetlands – A Story Of Migration	Raghunath Belur, Sugandhi Gadadhar	India
Protected by Prawns	Katie Jewett	United States
Mexico City and Its Sacred Salamanders	Katie Garrett	United States
Shape Me	Alex Spoerndli	Switzerland
USLP Shower	Bauddhayan Mukherji	India
Because I could	Niki J. Borger	United States
The Flat	Lev Voloshin	Moldova, Republic of
MT. SUSWA – LIFE IN A VOLCANO	Oliver Goetzl	Germany
No Mad	Alvynn Diagne	France
Disappearing Spots	Hetal Teeku Patel	Kenya
THE RESCUE CENTER	Nikki Dodd	United States
Into the Dark	Michael O. Snyder	United States
Pascoal	Matt Jarvis	United Kingdom
TAIWASTE	Patrik Thomas	Germany
The Future of Flight	Larissa Klinker	Germany
GITXSAN: OUR LAND, OUR CULTURE, OUR LAWS	Farhan Umedaly	Canada
It’s Look Sunshine	Kim Seunghwan	South Korea
Man-Eaters: A Human Leopard Story	Thivanka Perera	Sri Lanka
Puri	Daniel Casado	Chile
The Last Forest	Sapto Agus irawan, Kintan Wida Bastari	Indonesia
Forest is our home	Dony P. Herwanto	Indonesia
Oxygen	Rocky Grispen, Violette Belzer	Belgium
Future Ancestor	Josue Rivas	United States
The Beekeeper	William McGregor	United Kingdom
Tsunami Memories: Faith and Science	Isaac Kerlow	United States
Meet Ramon	Pilar Aldirico	Argentina
Stolen Apes – Buanoi	Colin Sytsma	United States
From Kurils With Love	Taylor Reese	United States
Youth on Strike!	Rob Innes	Australia
MUAK	Jokin Etcheverria	Spain
TABIRA	Aner Etxebarria Moral	Spain
Gon, The Little Fox	Takeshi Yashiro	Japan

The festival committee would like to congratulate the filmmakers whose films were selected to be screened in KLEFF 2020!! We are grateful for the film makers who supported KLEFF 2020 through your inspiring and educational films.

For more information about the Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest or its organizer, EcoKnights, please contact info@kleff.my.  or the festival manager, Nabila at nabila@ecoknights.org.my. For KLEFF partnership and collaboration, you may reach our KLEFF Festival Director at fadly@ecoknights.org.my.

– END –

ABOUT THE KUALA LUMPUR ECO FILM FEST (KLEFF)

The International KLEFF is Malaysia’s first and longest-serving platform promoting sustainable living through showcases of environment-themed films, workshops, talks, exhibitions, Impact Market, local performances and other engaging activities. Organized by EcoKnights, KLEFF features groundbreaking films that kindle important dialogues, traversing the relationship between humans and their environments, challenging the way people think about the natural world and inspiring them to discuss, explore and act on important environmental issues. For more information about KLEFF, kindly visit its official page at kleff.my and for more current updates, find us on Facebook at @KualaLumpurEcoFilmFestival and Instagram and Twitter at @kleff_my.

ABOUT ECOKNIGHTS

EcoKnights is an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) registered with the Registrar of Societies Malaysia. EcoKnights’ core focus areas are in environmental education; smart partnerships; strategic engagement and on-ground efforts as well as capacity building of youths. In these areas, EcoKnights focuses on working with key stakeholders to deliver strategically designed developmental interventions, further contributing to positive social, environmental and economic change. More information about EcoKnights can be obtained from www.ecoknights.org.my. For more current updates on what EcoKnights is up to, find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @EcoKnights. 

For media enquiries, please contact:
Fara Amina Othman,
Digital Content Officer of EcoKnights,
fara@ecoknights.org.my / 011 – 23210492

On behalf of EcoKnights and the KLEFF committee, it is with a heavy heart that we have to share the news about the cancellation of the physical edition of the 13th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest (KLEFF) this coming October (8th – 11th). We were looking forward to materializing yet another gripping film festival for all as the committee has been working hard in the past months amid a global pandemic. 

Clearly, after assessing all aspects of the current situation of Covid-19, we have taken the decision to cease any public engagement for KLEFF till the condition is entirely safe for us to do so. This news is not without a positive turn as we are excited to continue the 13th edition of KLEFF through digital means, including our Film Competition and Film Screening which will be done virtually. The deadline for the film submission has been extended to 19th June 2020. 

As we explore more options and new alternatives to run KLEFF digitally at the best of our capacity, we call for all corporates and fellow long-time partners to take on this journey with us and be part of this movement as part of their CSR – as the call for climate action never stops. The public confidence and partnering support by stakeholders in the last 12 years have been incredible thus far, hence, we are committed to continue working in unison for the digital execution of KLEFF.  

We understand the gravity of the situation for all, especially for those who have submitted their films to us, devoted collaborators, vendors, supporters, and festival goers – we will continue to work hard to bring you the unique festival you love – and honor the stories, experiences, and movement centered around sustainability and our environment to the highest standard.  

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]

Media Kit: bit.ly/PRklefflix

Kuala Lumpur, 22^nd April – In conjunction with Earth Day 2020, EcoKnights announces the launch of KLEFFlix – Malaysia’s first and only streaming service for environmental and community films, a digital maneuver to its flagship event, the International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest (KLEFF).

KLEFFlix enables the film festival to transcend beyond its physical element and reach a wider audience by screening past and future KLEFF films digitally. This means that this year’s theme and message of “Climate (in)Justice” can now be spread virtually as well. This is further aligned with the climate action theme of Earth Day 2020 50^th Anniversary – raising awareness on the threat of climate change to our future.

The launch of KLEFFlix also marks another notable milestone of KLEFF partnering with the Ministry of Environment and Water, which further helps the spread of the climate action message nationwide.

Leading up to today’s Earth Day celebration, the Ministry has run a digital contest seeking the best climate action-themed poster or video. In partnership with KLEFF, the 50 best submissions will win a Special Premium Membership to KLEFFlix – giving them access to a host of award-winning and compelling eco-themed films past and present.

EcoKnights Program Director and KLEFF Festival Director, Fadly Bakhtiar, said that the partnership with the Ministry represents positive progress in strengthening the national sustainability agenda by supporting a homegrown initiative utilizing technology as a tool to spread the message of climate action.

2020 signifies a long-term partnership of EcoKnights working closely with relevant ministries since its inception 15 years ago, with KLEFF being a strong foundation for climate action advocacy together with the Ministry – as seen in the collaborative effort between KLEFF and IGEM since 2017.

“Short movie documentaries are powerful tools to bring about environmental awareness and nudge behavioural change,” said Dato’ Seri Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang, Secretary General, Ministry of Environment and Water. He further stated that this partnership with KLEFF is to enable all stakeholders to work together to drive climate action.

Dato’ Seri Zaini Ujang felt that it’s a collective action as we chart our pathway in sustainable development and local made movies are important in mainstreaming our narrative and our perspective of these global issues. With KLEFFlix going digital, he is very encouraged that more people can enjoy these movies and he hopes it will bring a positive change and encourage Malaysians to live in harmony with Nature.

Since 2008, KLEFF has been championing the cause to mainstream the concept of sustainable living through the power of audio-visual materials, while ensuring equal access to environmental education to all. EcoKnights President and KLEFF Honorary Advisor, Dr. Yasmin Rasyid said that KLEFF, while charting positive growth since 2008 in terms of size and scope, remains very localized.

“Hopefully with KLEFFlix in a digital form, we can exponentially grow the number of people that can benefit from the festival and reach out to more global citizens who are passionate about sustainability and driven to make a change,” she said.

Fadly added that KLEFF successfully engaged over 100,000 people in the past 12 years through physical events like festivals, satellite screenings and roadshows.

“We have bigger aspirations to reach out to more people and continue to be the leader for environmental education and action – connecting stories from Malaysia and around the world to inspire a better future for all,” Fadly said.

“The digitalization of KLEFF via KLEFFlix can help us realize our mission, while giving a space for eco-themed films that would otherwise be left out of the mainstream a chance to be aired on a commercial platform.” 

KLEFF boasts a growing database of films submitted from both local and international filmmakers globally in the past years. From this database, the committee has shortlisted a significant amount of groundbreaking KLEFF films of various lengths, genre, and themes to be screened on KLEFFlix, with the film catalog to be gradually expanded as KLEFF runs its film submission annually.

 

KLEFFlix is part of EcoKnights’ unceasing efforts to enable everyone – from top corporates to everyday Malaysians – to be agents of environmental change. This can be done by simply subscribing to one of three of its membership plans; Free membership; Premium Membership; and Corporate Package.

For more details about the streaming service KLEFFlix and the membership plans, visit its official website at http://klefflix.kleff.my/

For further inquiries about KLEFFlix, you may contact our festival manager, Nabila at nabila@ecoknights.org.my and for KLEFF partnership and collaboration, you may reach our KLEFF Festival Director at fadly@ecoknights.org.my

– End –

 ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL KUALA LUMPUR ECO FILM FEST (KLEFF)

The International KLEFF is Malaysia’s first and longest-serving platform promoting sustainable living through showcases of environment-themed films, workshops, talks, exhibitions, Impact Market, local performances and other engaging activities. Organized by EcoKnights, KLEFF features groundbreaking films that kindle important dialogues, traversing the relationship between humans and their environments, challenging the way people think about the natural world and inspiring them to discuss, explore and act on important environmental issues. For more information about KLEFF, kindly visit its official page at kleff.my and for more current updates, find us on Facebook at @KualaLumpurEcoFilmFestival and Instagram and Twitter at @kleff_my.

ABOUT ECOKNIGHTS

EcoKnights is an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) registered with the Registrar of Societies Malaysia. EcoKnights’ core focus areas are in environmental education; smart partnerships; strategic engagement and on-ground efforts as well as capacity building of youths. In these areas, EcoKnights focuses on working with key stakeholders to deliver strategically designed developmental interventions, further contributing to positive social, environmental and economic change. More information about EcoKnights can be obtained from www.ecoknights.org.my. For more current updates on what EcoKnights is up to, find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @EcoKnights. 

For media enquiries, please contact:

Fara Amina Othman,

Digital Content Officer of EcoKnights,

fara@ecoknights.org.my / 011 – 23210492