Be like Water

Nadiah Wahid, Siti Kamaluddin and Liyana Yus at the Gala Night Premiere of Yasmine at The Times Cineplex @ The Empire last night

What an interesting night!! For the first time in Brunei, I experienced what it is like to be in a movie premiere. Well, this is the Brunei version and I hope there will be more when we have more locally produced featured film from Brunei Darussalam. Of course, with the right sponsors and support, such gala night premiere will be easier to pull off. This is just the closest thing that we can experience to how other regional countries would do and even so more in Hollywood.

Origin Films the producers of Yasmine the movie have been creating major waves in Brunei Darussalam and outside Brunei. Yasmine recently won an award in Switzerland as it won the Best Asian Film in the Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival 2014. The crew have been busy promoting the movie through the local schools and also being featured in talk shows and on radio. Perhaps the viral effect of Yasmine the movie was the actual Yasmine Pose on social media which gave more branding awareness on Yasmine to the public.

I believe the marketing campaign struck the right chord and it was evident last night on the impact it created during the Gala Night or what we call the Premiere of Yasmine. Hundreds of people showed up during the event and it was a very much engaging crowd who showed much enthusiasm on our locally produced movie. The preview screenings for Yasmine today in both The Mall Cineplex and Times Cineplex are almost filled up and I’m pretty sure once it opens this Thursday, it will be a box office hit in Brunei.

I’m quite happy that Yasmine will also be screening in Indonesia and Singapore starting on the 21st of August. I’m not too sure about the other international release dates for now but whatever it is, the three markets mentioned show how much impact Yasmine has made, coming from Brunei alone. Indonesia is a huge market and that could potentially draw more box office revenue alone and hopefully recover the costs of the movie alone.

It was great to see other international celebrities who attended the Gala Night but the show belonged to the trio ladies – Siti Kamaluddin the director, Liyana Yus the main lead actor and Nadiah Wadih the supporting actress in Yasmine. Congratulations to Origin Films on making this into a reality and with the positive buzz that it has been receiving, Yasmine is a sure hit among the locals. More review on Yasmine the movie next week and of course, an episode of The Popcorn Panel (podcast).

The official trailer for Yasmine

Liyana looking gorgeous in her dress done by IKAT Indonesia @ikat_ind

Siti Kamaluddin expressed her thanks to the sponsors and supporters who believed in this project

Such a crowd last night

Waiting the arrival of the trio of the main event 😀

With the associates of BEDB and also those behind the BEDB LEAP grant which helped to fund some of Yasmine’s movie

Representing Kristal FM, the official radio for Yasmine

Coey, Ben and Wendy at the Gala Night

My regular special guest of The Popcorn Panel, Seng Yee

Happy to see my social media buddies at the Gala Night too