The 8th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) took place from July 19 to July 27, 2025, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Bront Palarae, was joined by Siti Saleha and Daiyan Trisha as the brand ambassadors of the festival. The festival opened with a Malaysian film exploring cultural identity and emotional heritage titled Ninavau by Bebbra Mailin. It closed with 2024 coming-of-age film Transamazonia by Pia Marais.
Opening and closing ceremonies
The opening ceremony was held on 19 July 2025 at Sunken Garden, MyTOWN Shopping Centre. Festival ambassadors Siti Saleha, Daiyan Trisha, and Bront Palarae welcomed the guests attending the festival. This year the MIFFest showcased 65 films from 48 countries in over 43 languages, starting with the opening film Ninavau, a feature film depicting Sabahan and Kadazan culture.
ASEAN On Screen The highlight of this edition is launch of ASEAN On Screen, a new industry initiative aimed at showcasing Southeast Asia’s creative content and talent to viewers around the world.
Jury and Selection Committee
Semi-final and Final Selection Jury The Semi-Final and Final Selection Jury comprises industry professionals.
Preliminary Selection Committee Ansell Tan Chrishandra Sebastiampillai Indrani Kopal Jasmine Suraya Jordan Chiam Kaze Ng Kik Fei Jiun Rabbani Sujak Rosdeen Suboh TK Cheng Victor Chen Vimala Perumal Zahir Omar
Semi-Final Jury Jury Name(s)Semi-Final Committee Al Jafree Md Yusop Chacko Vadaketh Leslie Ewe Rendra Zawawi Sangeeta Krishnasamy Saville Chan Vanidah Imran Yasmin Yaacob
Final Selection Jury Jury Name(s) Jury Member Jury President Asif Kapadia Rima Das Reza Rahadian Jennifer Yu Diana Danielle
Official Selection Out of a total of 62 films participating in the Official Selection, the lineup spans 49 countries and 43 languages, featuring 3 world premieres, 4 Asian premieres, 6 Southeast Asian premieres, and 38 local premieres.
Opening Film English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country Ninavau Bebbra MailinMalaysia
Closing Film English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country Transamazonia Pia Marais France, Germany Switzerland Taiwan Brazil
Competition English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country All That's Left of You Cherien Dabis Cyprus/Germany DJ Ahmet Georgi M. Unkovski North Macedonia, Czechia, Serbia, Croatia My Friend An Delie 我的朋友安德烈 Zijian Dong China Paternal Leave Alissa Jung Germany, Italy Red Path Lotfi Achour Tunisia Soft Leaves Miwako Van Weyenberg Belgium To a Land Unknown Mahdi Fleifel United Kingdom, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Qatar Universal Language Matthew Rankin Canada Winter in Sokcho Hiver à Sokcho Koya Kamura France, South Korea
A-Listers English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country La Grande Maison Paris グランメゾンパリ Ayuko Tsukahara Japan What Does That Nature Say to You 그 자연이 네게 뭐라고 하니 Hong Sangsoo South Korea
Malaysian Dispatch English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country Housekeeping Zahir Omar Malaysia Memori Abid Hussain Malaysia
Neon English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country As The River Goes By 水东游 Charles Hu ChinaFamily Secrets Lee Sang-hoon South Korea Renoir Runowâru Chie Hayakawa Japan, France, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar
Manifesto English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country From Island to Island 由島至島 Lau Kek Huat Taiwan The Tides Will Decide Azim Rizal Malaysia
Actor in Focus: Reza Rahadian English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production countryHabibie & Ainun Faozan Rizal IndonesiaMy Stupid Boss Upi Avianto Indonesia
Master At Work: Raj Kapoor English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production countryAwaara Raj Kapoor IndiaBobby Raj Kapoor India
Master At Work: Ti Lung English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country A Better Tomorrow 英雄本色 John Woo Hong Kong
Lenses of India Women Filmmakers English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Boong Lakshmipriya Devi Second Chance Subhadra MahajanVictoria SivaranjiniVillage Rockstars 2 Rima Das
Open Air Cinema English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country Desolasi Syafiq Yusof Malaysia Emerging Composers Initiative 2025 Shorts Showcase Leong Xing Tong, Caitin Leticia, Khira Ammar, Kishan Kumar Malaysia Fly By Night Zahir Omar Malaysia Hantu Kak Limah Mamat Khalid MalaysiaMunafik 2 Syamsul Yusof MalaysiaPolis Evo Ghaz Abu Bakar MalaysiaThe Journey Chiu Keng Guan Malaysia The Kid From The Big Apple Jess Teong Malaysia
Harbour of Stories: Hong Kong On Screen English titleOriginal titleDirector(s) Last Song for You 久別重逢 Jill Leung Montages of a Modern Motherhood 虎毒不 Oliver Chan The Way We Talk 看我今天怎么说 Adam Wong Valley of the Shadow of Death 不赦之罪 Jeffrey Lam Sen, Antonio Tam
ASEAN On Screen English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country Cu Li Never Cries Cu Li không bao gio khóc Pham Ngoc Lan VietnamNext Stop, Somewhere James Lee Malaysia Stranger Eyes 默視錄 Yeo Siew Hua Singapore Sunshine Antoinette Jadaone Philippines Tale of the Land Loeloe Hendra Indonesia The Stone เดอะสโตน พระแท้ คนเก๊ Arak Amornsupasiri, Vuthipong Sukhanindr Thailand
MIFFest x EUFF (Official Selection） The 25th European Film Festival (EUFF) Malaysia was held in conjunction with the 8th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) from July 20 to 27, 2025.
English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production countryArmand Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel Norway/Netherlands/SwedenDrazen Danilo Šerbedžija, Ljubo Zdjelarević Croatia/Slovenia/SerbiaGrowing Down Bálint Dániel Sós HungaryI Shall See Mercedes Stalenhoef NetherlandsLate Shift Petra Volpe Switzerland/GermanyNasty Tudor Giurgiu, Christian Pascariu, Tudor D. Popescu RomaniaOnce Upon a Time in a Forest Virpi Suutari FinlandSpilt Milk Brian Durnin Ireland/UKTaste of Freedom Oleksandr Berezan UkraineThe Devil's Bath Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala Austria/GermanyThe Girl with the Needle Magnus von Horn Denmark/Poland/SwedenThe Last Journey Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson SwedenThe Portuguese House Avelina Prat Spain/PortugalThe Time It Takes Francesca Comencini Italy/FranceYear of the Widow Veronika Lišková Czechia/Slovakia/Croatia
MGGA 2025
The 8th Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) will take place alongside the 8th Malaysia International Film Festival from July 19–27, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, celebrating excellence in international and local filmmaking across categories like Best Film, Best Director, and Acting Awards.
Special awards + Award for Excellence Achievement in Film卓越电影成就奖 Reza Rahadian Lifetime Achievement Award终身成就奖 Ti Lung (Tommy Tam Fu-wing) 狄龙 (譚富榮)
Winners and nominees Nominees announced on June 12, 2025.
Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
All That's Left of You DJ Ahmet My Friend An Delie Paternal Leave Red Path Soft Leaves To a Land Unknown Universal Language Winter in Sokcho Lotfi Achour / Red Path Cherien Dabis / All That's Left of You Georgi M. Unkovski / DJ Ahmet Dong Zijian / My Friend An Delie Mahdi Fleifel / To a Land Unknown Mahmood Bakri / To a Land Unknown Saleh Bakri / All That's Left of You Arif Jakup / DJ Ahmet Liu Haoran / My Friend An Delie Ali Helali / Red Path Juli Grabenhenrich / Paternal Leave Cherien Dabis / All That's Left of You Lill Berteloot / Soft Leaves Rojina Esmaeili / Universal Language Bella Kim / Winter in Sokcho Han Haolin / My Friend An Delie Mohammad Bakri / All That's Left of You Aksel Mehmet / DJ Ahmet Chi Xingkai / My Friend An Delie Aram Sabbagh / To a Land Unknown Park Mi-Hyeon / Winter in Sokcho Maria Zreik / All That's Left of You Yin Tao / My Friend An Delie Masako Tomita / Soft Leaves Danielle Fichaud / Universal Language Cherien Dabis / All That's Left of You Zhang Weizhong, Dong Zijian / My Friend An Delie Natacha De Pontcharra, Doria Achour, Sylvain Cattenoy, Lotfi Achour / Red Path Mahdi Fleifel, Fyzal Boulifa, Jason Mccolgan / To a Land Unknown Koya Kamura, Stéphane Ly-Cuong / Winter In Sokcho Isabelle Stachtchenko/ Universal Language Christopher Aoun / All That's Left of You Naum Doksevski / DJ Ahmet Lyu Songye / My Friend An Delie Wojciech Staroń / Red Path From Island To Island - Lau Kek Huat Red Path - Lotfi Achour Soft Leaves - Miwako Van Weyenberg Universal Language - Matthew Rankin Paternal Leave - Alissa Jung DJ. Ahmet - Georgi M. Unkovski To a Land Unknown - Mahdi Flefel My Friend An Delie - Dong Zijian All That's Left of You - Cherien Dabis
Presenters and performers The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers:
+ Presenters Name(s) Role Colin Served as announcer for the 8th Golden Global Awards Bront Palarae Daiyan Trisha Gave an opening monologue for the 8th Golden Global Awards Yang Hormat Dato'. Gerald Hans Isaac Chairman of FINAS, National Film Development Corporation Malaysia Presenter of New Hope Award Lee Dongha Lee Sang-hoon Presenter of Best Cinematography Garin Nugroho Presenter of Best Screenplay Liu Yi Hao Xiong Ziqi Presenter of Best Supporting ActressJi Seung-hyun Lim Ming Chen Presenter of Best Supporting Actor Abhilash Chandra Mimi Lana Syafiq Kyle Presenter of Audience Choice Award Daiyan Trisha Presenter of Excellence Achievement in Film Award Zizan Razak Diana Danielle Presenter of Best Actress Jennifer Yu Truong Ngoc Anh Presenter of Best ActorKim Dong Ho Joanne Goh Presenter of Life Achievement Award Reza Rahadian Rima Das Presenter of Best Director Asif Kapadia Presenter of Best Film
+ Performers Name(s) RoleYuka KharismaPerformed "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston and Bahasa Kalbu by Raisa/Andi RiantoALYPHPerformed "Ingat"
See also 2025 Cannes Film Festival 61st Golden Horse Awards Hong Kong Film Award Star Awards 2025 97th Academy Awards
References
External links