Higher Education Film Festivals as Industry Nodes in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

Brunei Film Blitz and PRISM UBD Short Film Festival are two institution-based higher education film festivals in Brunei. Their initial purpose was to showcase film production-centric media studies students’ coursework in an effort to help recent graduates gain employment in the local film industry. Over time, this purpose expanded and both events transformed into “an industry node” ABSTRACT (Iordanova, 2015). As industry nodes, these events provide guidance to the burgeoning Bruneian content creation sector and often influence a range of issues from localized distribution to governmental policy and initiatives. The main discussions unfold around four signposts: 1. Addressing the recognized gaps of a screen-based media education; 2. a summary of key isomorphic indicators; 3. higher education film festivals as industry nodes in the Brunei context; and 4. potential influence of future governmental policies regarding a future Bruneian film and screen industry. Drawing on the discussion above, this paper suggests that the higher education film festivals may be utilized as a catalyst, or industry node, for Media Study and Screen Production faculties in higher education institutions to build up close connectivity with the local screen and media industry, promoting student enrollment in related programs and graduate employment in creative sectors. For a long-term perspective, with their potential influence on governmental policymaking and incentive steering, such higher education film festivals may grow into and form diverse and effective mechanisms that facilitate to galvanize and inform the incipient film and screen industry in Brunei Darussalam.