BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – The Bruneian production house Origin Artistic Management’s latest movie Akademi will be screened across all cinemas nationwide on January 16.
The action-comedy flick is Bruneian director Siti Kamaluddin’s third feature film.
The cast features Liyana Yus and Nadiah Wahid, who starred in Origin’s first theatrical release, Yasmine; Shafiee Mostar and Ian Zulkifli of Hari Minggu Yang Ke-Empat, as well as newcomers Nasrul Nassar, Bruhaha founder Zainal Bostaman and YouTuber Syafi Halim.
The film’s premiere took place at Empire Cinema on Friday night and was attended by royal family members, local creatives and the film’s corporate sponsors.
The movie centres around Hani played by Liyana Yus, who is training to become an elite security guard, as well as her friendship with five other aspiring security guards.
Members of the audience may appreciate the use of Brunei Malay in the film and the familiar shooting sites around the country.
Siti said part of the film’s aim was to portray Bruneian identity on the silver screen.
“I hope that everybody will enjoy the movie, it’s a fun movie and we hope that you will laugh and enjoy the movie as much as we enjoyed making it.
“We have a lot of talent in Brunei. The cast is very hardworking and talented, the new actors are motivated and inspired by the more experienced actors,” she said.
The cast and 50 local film crew members worked on Akademi for six months.
Origin said from concept and development to post-production, Akademi involved over 400 locals and businesses – a milestone for the Bruneian film economy.
The production house said the movie also gave aspiring Bruneian filmmakers on-set experience and training, hoping to mould them into the next generation of local filmmakers.
Siti added that she has already begun work on her next feature film, a horror movie.