Johor Street Film School (JSFS), a non-profit youth group initiated by Kapsul Studio Sdn. Bhd, which is supported by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) MaGICX and MUBI Malaysia, released its latest documentary capsule series titled ‘Malaysian Like Me’ featuring everyday Malaysians from all walks of life with a compact screening event held in collaboration with JOHO HQ in Stulang, JB. The event saw attendees from different demographics of Johor citizens including Aris Abdillah Mohamed Kamal, General Manager of MY Iskandar Sdn Bhd, from Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA).
Featuring 13 personalities in 13 separate episodes with a duration of 5 to 6 minutes each, the docuseries talks about intimate topics like surviving cancer, divorce, homelessness and overdevelopment.
Launched to celebrate Malaysia’s Independence month, JSFS aims to nurture a more responsive and participative environment for the local youth to interact about national current issues, while instilling the pride of being Malaysians. The screening of the first 6 episodes out of the 13 episodes was followed by a sharing session from a wide range of people that allows discussion about relating and elaboration to the persona featured in the episode.
“Malaysian Like Me screening is Johor Street Film School’s first effort to upskill local creative youths with filmmaking industry skills,” said Haziqah Binti Azemi, the founder and producer of JSFS and Kapsul Studio Sdn Bhd.
“Next, Johor Street Film School is preparing to shoot 4 short films about life in Johor to be turned into our first omnibus film, aiming for cinema release. Our goal is to ultimately create an alternate independent filmmaking universe in Johor,” Cech Adrea, founder and Creative Director of JSFS and Kapsul Studio Sdn Bhd added.
The full Malaysian Like Me series can be watched on Kapsul Studio Youtube at https://youtube.com/c/kapsulstudio
All 13 videos will be released weekly starting 4th August featuring :
- Nizang – Bassist of an independent punk rock band called Dum Dum Tak who battles kidney failure and the death of his wife.
- Egy Azira – Poet who battles lymphoma cancer and divorce at the same time.
- Maimunah – An Indonesian stall owner who is happy to work in Malaysia.
- Ayam Fared – Artist who talks about the need for self-sustainable life in the heart of KL.
- Hishamuddin Rais – A film director who found the car he used to shoot his breakthrough film From Jemapoh to Manchester.
- Rasidan – An antique car collector sharing a house with an Indonesian family.
- Connie – A Malaysian Chinese who enjoys eating belacan with her hand.
- Caleb – A Myanmar refugee who can’t return home.
- Rahayu Bahrain – Teacher and co-founder of Buku Jalanan Chow Kit who fights for Chow Kit youths’ education rights.
- Hanim Khairuddin – A visual art curator who chose to stay in a village with no gallery and kickstart PORT in Ipoh.
- Hadi Khalid – An activist who fights for freedom of speech through Radio Bangsar Utama.
- Iti Suhaila – Talks about city hunger with Dapur Jalanan KL.
- Ili Aqilah – A journalist who fights for the plastic straw ban.
Interested parties in filmmaking and who would like to support the arts may find Johor Street Film School via Instagram and Kapsul Studio on Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube.
