(30 September 2015, Wednesday) Kuda Kepang: Reviving The Culture, an eight-minute documentary film about a controversial Javanese- originated ritual that involves a state of trance and a display of unusual abilities such as the eating of glass, has won the top prize at the second Singapore Heritage Short Film Competition. Organised by the Singapore Film Society, the competition recognises film-making talents who view the heritage of Singapore from a fresh perspective.
The three Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts students behind the winning work – Mr Muhammad Na’im Muhammad, 25; Mr Louis Porfirios, 20; and Mr Jasper Lim, 25 – on Monday won $1,500 in cash, among other prizes. Explaining the choice of topic for their film, Mr Na’im says: “We wanted to preserve the heritage of Malay culture through the competition and raise awareness of some of the dying arts such as kuda kepang and shine a light on the good and the bad side of it.” Roughly translated, kuda kepang means “flat horse” and it is a traditional Javanese dance depicting a group of horsemen riding their “horses” made from woven bamboo and colourful paints and cloth.
Media: The Straits Times, Life, Page D2
Full article here:
http://www.nafa.edu.sg/media/2015/TheStraitsTimesLife!Movies30Sep15.pdf
南洋艺术学院 Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
http://www.fsi.com.my/nafa/
