The annual screening festival for independent films will showcase 10 short movies and four feature films this year, more than in previous years. It screened four short movies and one feature film in 2015; and three short movies and one feature film in 2014.

This year’s screenings will include the premieres of two short films – The Floating Chopin by newcomer Wregas Bhanuteja and Serpong by director Lucky Kuswandi; and two long features – Potongan (Cuts) by documentary filmmaker Chairun Nissa and White Shoes & The Couples Company di Cikini (White Shoes & The Couples Company at Cikini) by director Henry Foundation (Betmen).

“We expect another full house this year,” the event’s initiator Meiske Taurisia said.

Last year, the tickets were sold out with more than 500 people attending the event. The same thing also happened in 2014, Meiske said.

Apart from the screenings, this year’s event also invites Southeast Asian Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC) executive director Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who will introduce a SEAFIC script workshop that offers a grand prize of US$15,000 for the best script to be developed into a movie.

“Jakarta will be Raymond’s first stop before touring other countries in the region to announce the program,” Meiske said.

The event will also organize a discussion on censorship with 10 local universities, featuring a number of local film experts, including Hikmat Darmawan.

The event organizer chose the topic of censorship for this year because it was also raised by the film Potongan, Meiske said.

“My film raises the element of human rights [in regard to censorship]. Ironically, when the number of filmmakers that are interested in talking about human rights is growing, we have to deal with rejections from the Film Censorship Board [LSF],” the director, Chairun, said, adding her film explored the stories behind the cuts made by the LSF.

Meanwhile, another documentary White Shoes & The Couples Company di Cikini is a musical documentary featuring the journey of famous indie band White Shoes & The Couples Company from starting as a campus band in Cikini, Central Jakarta, to gaining international success and back again to its origins for a reunion concert.

“The [documentary] project was inspired by the urge to properly document the band’s performances over the years,” said the film’s producer, Indra Ameng.

Two other feature films are Josh Kim’s How to Win At Checkers (Every Time), which is a co-production between Indonesia, Thailand and the US; and Alvin’s Harmonious World of Opposites by Australian director Platon Theodoris.

For the music, the event will present another performance from DJ Irama Nusantara, a loyal guest star since 2014, and DJ MMS.

Meanwhile for the food, the special menu for this year is Papaya pudding ala Rocket Rain.

Admission is 150,000 rupiah (US$11.30) for a daily pass screening and 250,000 rupiah for a two-day pass.

Film enthusiasts have argued that the tickets are too expensive with some of them rethinking their attendance at the event.

But Meiske begs to differ, as more films will be screened this year.

For those who do not want to pay the full price, she said the organizer also offered a 50,000 rupiah ticket for each screening, the same as in previous years.

“I don’t think it is expensive. People can spend 50,000 rupiah to buy a coffee and pastry in a coffee shop. So in the same way people appreciate coffee, this is how we appreciate our movies,” she said.

Typical? Think again.

There will be no dialogue, no narration, and no text to help the plot move along. You won’t even see the actors’ faces or the clothes that they are wearing.

Instead, Masakini Theatre Company founder Sabera Shaik, 63, has set out to craft a tale from light and shadows, shapes and sounds. Sixteen actors and dancers have come together to weave magic behind the screen and beyond, at the company’s latest shadow theatre production, Malaysia Kita. It is the third instalment in the Wayang Series.

The first, The Story Of Kuala Lumpur, was staged in 2012, followed by Malaysian Stories last year.

“All of Masakini Theatre’s productions are very much focused on Malaysia and telling Malaysian stories. The theme of Malaysia Kita is no different. But instead of looking at stories from the past, we are going to delve into the present this time,” says Sabera of the show’s setting.

Part travelogue, part metamorphosis, and part journey of self-discovery, Malaysia Kita brings audiences on a whirlwind one-hour journey to every state in the country.

The ancient art of shadow play is once again thrown into sharp relief in this show, offering a unique insight into this country we call home, presented in a familiar art form that has been given an innovative twist by Masakini Theatre.

Be blown away by a cave exploration, try your hand at polo, test your patience in our notorious traffic jams, and watch the infamous mat rempit (motorcycle racers) whizz by.

Go on a river cruise and get up close and personal with a larger-than-life prawns, immerse yourself in the hustle and bustle of Chow Kit Road and then, when the sun sets, head on over to Kuala Selangor for the breathtaking fireflies.

A visit to a national park also means saying hello to all creatures great and small. And while you are at it, why not scale Mount Kinabalu and touch the sky?

More often than not, a shadow theatre show involves puppetry and cut-outs, but Masakini Theatre has spent many years exploring the possibilities of the human form in telling stories through shadow, silhouette and movement.

“Masakini’s interpretation uses the human form as its medium to craft everything audiences will see on the stage. A certain element of contortionism is required from the actors to ensure the realism of the story they are telling,” says Sabera.

At a recent rehearsal, the actors spent considerable time perfecting their take on squids propelling themselves lazily through the depths of the ocean, complete with wriggly tentacles.

Behind the screen, they took on the role of contortionists, twisting and holding somewhat bizarre poses to collectively form a coherent form when viewed from the opposite side of the screen. In a blink of an eye, they switched from marine creatures to a tapir ambling in the wild, then morphed into a car … and then a puffer fish.

Malaysia Kita, directed by Sabera and Chi Azim, is brought to life by nine actors who have teamed up with seven dancers from local dance company Dua Space. It is the second time Masakini Theatre and Dua Space Dance Theatre are collaborating on such a project.

Malaysia Kita’s music is composed by musician and composer Kevin Vong, with choreography by Anthony Meh and Aman Yap of Dua Space Dance Theatre.

“Having dancers on the team brings a different sort of synergy behind the scenes, which I like. I also think having them on board inspires the actors to push themselves further,” explains Sabera, before adding that it is indeed a big challenge to put together a show of this nature.

And she doesn’t just mean physical strength; she believes that being part of a shadow theatre show requires so much more than that.

“The actors, whose ages range from 21 to 37 years old, had to do lots of stretching and strength exercises so that they would be supply enough to meld with the dancers. But the mental aspect is also important, especially as we practise up to four hours a day, and sometimes more,” she shares.

As to what Masakini Theatre has up its sleeve, Sabera already has big plans for the next performance that will be partially presented outdoors, though she is keeping mum on what exactly this entails. But one thing’s for sure – audience participation is most welcome.

Capri loves to help children less fortunate than herself. She is touring of 80 countries to sing 80 national anthems in 41 different languages to raise US$1 million for SOS Children’s Village – a charity which provides homes worldwide for children who have been orphaned, abandoned, or affected by war and poverty.

In a short clip featured on the website aroundtheworldin80anthems.com, the angel-hearted girl said she decided to act when she discovered that 18 million orphaned children face death, due to disease and malnutrition.

“I wanted to use my voice to help children get clean water and food,” she said.

The idea of traveling to 80 countries was inspired by the classic novel Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne.

“But this is not just about visiting countries. This is about bringing children together through the common language of music,” her website aroundtheworldin80anthems.com explains.

Why does Capri sing national anthems everywhere she goes?

Many children may not know famous pop songs, but they know their own national anthem. So Capri sings local national anthems with children in their own language, and children everywhere sing with her. She hopes that her work will inspire children of the world to use their talents to help make a better world for people everywhere.

In Vietnam, her nine-year-old brother Bowen Everitt and children of the SOS Children’s Village in Da Nang accompanied her in singing the Vietnamese national anthem..

Tonight, she will participate in a cultural exchange programme with children from SOS Da Nang Village and 100 university students at Châu Á Park from 6pm to 8pm.

A similar programme will be held tomorrow at Bien Dong Park.

On November 20, 2015, Capri began her incredible journey at UNICEF’s Universal Children’s Day celebrations in Ottawa, together with her mom, dad, and younger brother. Then she travelled through countries in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, South America, Oceania, and Eastern Asia. In each country, she invites as many local children as possible to join her.

Vietnam is her 30th country. After leaving this country on March 20, Capri will continue her mission in other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, before heading to the Southern Asia region to sing in Sri Lanka and India.

Her journey will also extend to South Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. She is scheduled to complete her 80-country global mission in mid-August.

To learn more about Capri’s journey, or to make a donation, visit her website at http://aroundtheworldin80anthems.com.

A glimpse of Balang in Los Angeles

Balang, accompanied by his mother Mary Jane and family friend and interpreter Danica Doma, arrived in LA March 8, then flew to Miramar, Florida the following day (March 10 in Manila) for taping at the network’s studios. The segment is scheduled to be aired in July.

“Balang was treated like a superstar, with the red carpet, limousine and all,” Vic Perez, Balang’s LA-based international manager, told the Inquirer on Monday.

The show’s celebrity hosts and other guests, including the Italian pop trio Il Volo, “went gaga over Balang,” said Perez.

The two-hour program is hosted by renowned and beloved Mexican actress and singer Angelica Vale and Raul Gonzalez, one of the most recognized personalities on Hispanic television.

It was Balang’s fourth trip to the US since May last year when he appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show for the first time.

He caught the show producers’ attention after his dance moves to the pop hit “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande went viral.

He returned to the award-winning daytime show six months later and again wowed the audience with his dance moves to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” He also did a dance-off with the show’s resident DJ tWitch, to “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” by Silento.

28 million views

In January, his Shakira-style dance moves to Canadian pop star Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” went viral (currently with 28 million views on Facebook) and again caught the attention of DeGeneres and other celebrities including Bieber himself, who tweeted, “(Balang) kills it.”

Perez, his manager, also announced that his company V Entertainment is producing an original dance song, titled “Bing Bang Bounce,” for a music video featuring Balang’s dance moves.

The song is a collaboration among Los Angeles-based musicians Edmund Perlas, Carlo Paulo Ferrer Santos, also known as C-Tru, and a Korean composer.

Perlas has composed songs for Sarah Geronimo, Jennylyn Mercado, Julie Anne San Jose, among other popular artists. C-Tru has worked with Sony Music Entertainment and several well-known mainstream artists.

Perez also said that Operation Smile, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that provide cleft lip and palate repair surgeries to children worldwide, has asked Balang to be one of their ambassadors of goodwill.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Balang said he started dancing when he was four years old.

“Nobody taught me how to dance,” he said in Filipino. “I just taught myself.”

Unesco listed xoan singing as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent protection in 2011. After four years of being listed as in urgent need of protection, Vietnam last year submitted a report to Unesco stating that xoan singing has seen a revival thanks to the great efforts made by Phu Tho Province.

However, Vietnam is still awaiting guidance from Unesco as to how to reclassify xoan singing as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

“There are two possible ways forward. One, Vietnam has to submit an application to remove xoan singing from the list of cultural heritage in urgent need of protection, then resubmit to consider xoan singing as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” said Pham Sanh Châu, secretary general of Unesco Vietnam at a meeting held recently in Hà Noi.

“Second, Vietnam simply submits a new document to Unesco to recognise xoan singing as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.”

Most country members of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 2003 agreed to support Vietnam in their bid to recognise the folk singing as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, according to Chu.

At the meeting, experts and scientists discussed how to prepare the new application document for submitting before March 31.

“The National Cultural Heritage Council will organise a permanent session to approve the new document on xoan singing,” said Professor Luu Trau Tieu, chairman of the council.

“The new completed document on xoan singing will be submitted to the relevant Vietnamese bodies before being submitted to Unesco.”

Xoan singing comes from the northern province of Phu Tho, and is practised in front of communal halls at spring festivals. It is said to have appeared about 4,000 years ago, during the time of legendary Hùng Kings.

Xoan singing was organised not only to entertain villagers and to honour the founders of the nation, but also to pray for good weather and harvests, give praise to the landscape, and to depict daily life in rural areas.

Despite an annual performance at the Hùng Kings’ Temple festival, xoan singing was at risk of dying out because younger generations had never heard of it.

After being listed as a world’s intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent protection, Phu Tho made great efforts to preserve and revive fold genre of singing.

“The popularity of xoan singing has gone up and down, and was at risk for a while of dying out, but it never faded away completely,” said Hà Ke San, deputy-chairman of Phu Tho Province.

In 2010, there were 13 xoan singing clubs with nearly 300 members in Phu Tho. After a concerted effort, by 2015 there were as many as 30 clubs across the province with 1,000 regular members, and hundreds of others interested in joining.

A number of promotional activities were carried out by elder xoan singers aimed at popularising xoan songs to the younger generations. Between 2012 and 2015, 51 individuals were honoured as Distinguished Xoan Artists.

In 2013, Phu Tho’s People’s Committee prepared a VND165 billion (US$7.85 million) project, entitled “Maintaining and Developing Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – Xoan Singing in Phu Tho in 2013-20,” funded by the Government.

The show aims to respond to the global celebrations of Shakespeare’s works and his influence on culture, education and society on the occasion of his 400th death anniversary.

While there are many versions of Hamlet around the world, the Vietnamese theatre’s version focuses on the theme of the fierce fight against crime.

“Hamlet premiered in Vietnam a few months ago. It has become popular in Hanoiand HCM City,” National Drama Theatre Director Nguyen The Vinh said.

“We want to introduce one of masterpieces of the world to not only local spectators, but also Vietnamese people living abroad and foreign spectators,” Vinh said.

Actors will perform in Vietnamese language with original English subtitles.

All the actors are rehearsing with a view to giving a perfect performance in Singapore.

“I tried to research foreign and Vietnamese works such as films and drama to have a profound understanding of Hamlet and his times,” actor Ta Minh, who plays Hamlet in the play, said.

“I have my own way of playing Hamlet, a role any actor will want to do,” he said.

The Vietnamese flavour in Hamlet is the xuân pha traditional dance of the central Thanh Hóa Province. Veteran dancer Hoàng Hai was invited to the theatre to teach the actors dancing.

Performers of xuân pha dance wear painted masks and don strange costumes. Their songs and dance will make theatre goers feel as if they are in some kind of wonderland.

In the play, the xuân pha dance is performed in a scene showing the banquet given by the King, and by a mandarin who wants to entertain a depressed Hamlet.

The actors will interact with Vietnamese students on March 26, a day after the show.

Shakespeare Lives is a major global programme for 2016, launched by the British Council.

An unparalleled breadth of creative partnerships, including a major partnership with the United Kingdom-based charity Voluntary Service Overseas, will use the power of Shakespeare’s anniversary year to give real help to children in some of the world’s poorest communities and to raise funds and awareness of their work in education globally.

It is an opportunity for millions of people in more than 140 countries to actively participate in a unique digital collaboration, and experience Shakespeare’s works directly through new productions of his plays, films, exhibitions and public readings, besides educational resources.

The hall was packed when Foster greeted the audience as he entered the stage for his special show on Saturday: “It’s so nice to be back at the Java Jazz!”

Foster kicked off the concert with the powerful ’Winter Games’ composition. He was warm-hearted and threw a lot of jokes throughout the show, giving the concert a lively and intimate touch.

Foster later introduced Dutch jazz singer Berget Lewis, who amazed the audience with her powerful voice and brought to life Foster’s familiar songs, including Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart”, Chaka Khan’s “Through the Fire” and Jennifer Hudson’s “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, which was taken from the motion picture adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls.

Sitting behind a grand piano, Foster played some of his most popular songs, such as “Glory of Love”, “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and “Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire”.

Indonesian singer Lea Simanjuntak entertained the audience afterward with challenging high-pitched songs including Celine Dion’s “The Power of Love”, Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing”, which was immediately followed by “I Will Always Love You”, a soundtrack from the popular 1992 film The Bodyguard. Wearing a glittery silver dress, Lea wowed the entire hall with her ability to hit the high-notes perfectly.

Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti later took to the stage as a surprise and was welcomed with a big cheer from the crowd. He played a full version of “Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire”.

American R&B artist Eric Benét came up next, singing a few of Foster’s sing-along songs, including All-4-One’s “I Swear”, Peter Cetera’s “Glory of Love” and Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “After the Love Has Gone”. Benét also sang his own “The Last Time”, written by himself in collaboration with David Foster and Foster’s daughter Amy.

Berget Lewis then came back on stage, hitting the beat with Cheryl Lynn’s famous disco song “Got to Be Real”, which had the crowd dancing, followed by Benét, who wrapped up the night with Al Jarreau’s upbeat songs “Mornin’” and “Georgy Porgy”.