BUSINESS Events Sarawak is celebrating a “tribal” achievement at the Los Angeles Film Awards where it was recognised under the Honourable Mention for Commercials category for a promo called Sarawak – New Normal in Business Events.
The recognition by the judging panel marks the first international film triumph for the Malaysian business events industry. The commercial was produced by Business Events Sarawak as part of its “Tribal Legacy Sarawak” marketing campaign.
The honour comes as BESarawak prepares to launch its latest initiative, “Responsible Sarawak – Empowering Socially Responsible Business Events During Covid-19”.
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Stakeholders from the Malaysia Borneo state’s business events community, along with others, collaborated on the film, which was aimed at raising awareness of safety protocols when organising, hosting and attending meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions in Sarawak.
The film opens with a traditional Iban headhunter chasing down an international delegate through a rainforest, but what seems to be a dangerous encounter is all in the delegate’s imagination as he undergoes a temperature scan at the conference venue and is helped with other safety protocols.
While the film targets a specific audience, the storyline has been widely applauded by the local community for its creative a humorous demonstration of Covid-19 precautionary measures and making the message relevant to those outside the business events industry.
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“Though the Sarawak government has already over 89 per cent of adults – the highest in Malaysia – we must not overlook the importance of safety precautions with Covid-19 lingering,” said Karim Rahman Hamzah, Sarawak’s tourism minister.
Hamzah urged other states in Malaysia to use the film in their promotions.
BESarwak’s CEO Amelia Roziman said: “It is imperative that we organise and host business events that comply with event and crowd safety regulations. To restart and protect the industry, we must first educate the industry on what it means to be responsible and how.
“I believe that the short film is going to be an important educational resource that shall attract national and international delegates again when the sky reopens.”
Sarawak’s creative flair is no stranger to the Los Angeles Film Awards panel as musician Alena Murang and production house Sarawak Eye won praise at this year’s LAFA.
