KLEFF Newsletter

2017/01

Message from Programme Director

Dear friends! It’s time we say goodbye to the year of 2016 and welcome 2017!

I would like all of us to recall our achievements, of which many will contribute to the sustained growth of Malaysia’s leading environmental film festival, the KLEFF.

Truth be told, although KLEFF is the first and the biggest eco film festival in Malaysia, we are a relatively small organisation with a big mission. From a humble inception in 2008, this year we are celebrating the 10th Anniversary for KLEFF. Isn’t that amazing?

Because of that we are proud to announce the all-new KLEFF logo, as our renewed mission to deliver the most urgent environmental message to our audience. I had a fun interview session with our designer, Azizul Yusof @ JOY to get some insights of himself and his new logo design.

January is the most crucial month of the year (so is the other months of the year for us, honestly) and this is the month where we invite film makers from all over the world to submit their films for this year’s festival.

We are also calling for partners, sponsors and collaborators to join this movement and help us develop the content for this year’s KLEFF2017.

Lastly, we’re super excited to share with you the KLEFF2016 Official Video Highlight. It got us teary and excited at the same time to make this year’s festival the best ever.

Yours Fabulously,
FABS

The 10th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival is now calling for Entries!!

It is the 10th Anniversary for the International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF) and we are CALLING FOR TONS OF ACTION!! If you have an inspiring and urgent environmental story to share, submit your film to us here!

KLEFF is an annual environmental film festival organized by EcoKnights since 2008 and has been running for 9 years, serving as a platform to facilitate building a nation of ecologically conscious businesses, individuals, and communities through on-ground activities and film screenings focused on critical environmental issues and stories such as pollution, transboundary haze, indigenous people’s rights, wildlife protection, nuclear energy, climate change, sustainable food production, waste management, local environmental heroes and more as a platform to both local and international film makers. The festival’s themes are the environment, ecology and sustainable development in a comprehensive sense.

Here is a summary of our deadlines:

January 1, 2017 : Opening Date
March 15, 2017 : Earlybird Deadline
May 31, 2017 : Regular Deadline
June 30, 2017 : Late Deadline
July 21, 2017 : Notification Date
October 23 – 29, 2017 : Event Date

For more information visit here or contact us at info@kleff.my. We are so excited to see what kind of films that will be submitted for this year’s film festival!

FABulouS Interview With Our Designer, Azizul Yusof.

You’ve seen our KLEFF 2016 visuals (posters, buntings, festival guide books and bookmarks) and you’re probably wondering who the mastermind behind the designs is. He is no other than EcoKnights’ designer, Azizul Yusof (in the picture below) or we know him as Joy.

In an interview between Joy and Fabs, the Ipoh-born designer talked more about his interest in art, his work with EcoKnights and his new logo design for the 10th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival.

Fabs: Tell us a bit about yourself (your background, interest, influence).

Joy: The name is Noor Azizul Mohamad Yusof. I’m 28 years old from good ol’ Ipoh Mali. Art, fashion and music are my passion, and have always been a part of my life even before I started graphic designing. As an avid football fan, I play socially in minor local leagues and my favourite team is Arsenal Fc. I’m a self-taught graphic designer who takes his fill of inspiration from the works of other artists such George Lois, Massimo Vignelli, Keith Haring, Jean Michel Basquiat,Milton Glaser and some other designers.

Fabs: You have been doing freelancing with EcoKnights for about one year or so, tell us how it started and what do you love most about working and contributing for EcoKnights.

Joy: Well I started as a freelancer for EcoKnights back in 2015 when I got a call from our Programme Director Mr. Fadly asking if I’m up for a designing challenge for the 2015 Langkawi Eco Film Fest collaterals, and I took that challenge and delivered the task successfully, I hope! However, my first brush with EcoKnights was in 2012 when I decided to follow my friends Afiq & Jabar to be volunteers for KLEFF 2012. At that moment, I’ve already felt something that I couldn’t describe, like a good vibe all over. Teamwork in EcoKnights is the best I’ve experienced. I really appreciate the efforts our honorary leaders, Ms Yasmin and Mr Fadly, showing and guiding us along the way and I feel that it has allowed the team to produce a good end result. I like this atmosphere that they’ve cultured.

Fabs: What are some of the most satisfying projects (or designs) that you have done for EcoKnights in the past?

Joy: So far up to this date I think it’s the KLEFF 2016 collaterals. One day I will look back on how it started and the day I got the task and was entrusted to do the collaterals is the day I will remember for the rest of my life.

Fabs: Share us about your design for the new KLEFF logo. What was the story, the process and how did you come up with it and what’s the meaning of the new logo?

Joy: It’s a Film Festival, so a film strip is a must for the logo, simple and direct. The old logo had a branch with leaves, signifying environment. With the new logo however, I decided to give emphasis on the film festival bit. The sentence Eco Film Festival on its own suggests that this is not a regular film festival. Our brand must be able to convey the message any medium.

With the age of increasingly sophisticated technology, and a variety of media platforms, branding or to be exact, logo, should be versatile enough to comply with every requirement of the available platforms. The previous logo has served successfully in introducing KLEFF brand for the past 10 years. Now for the next ten, I hope the new logo will perform better in terms of passing along our message, on old and new platforms. A new feature incorporated is that the new logo has been made to be responsive and adaptable on all media so as to make KLEFF recognizable just by glancing an alphabet.

Apart from that, I remember when designing KLEFF 2016 poster, the previous logo was a vertical typeface and had limited space. I had to resize the logo smaller until it felt like the logo has failed to convey any message. With a responsive logo, hopefully all this will be resolved. My way of designing, I always find something as a referral from features of previous design / logo so that I can always incorporate that in the new one. That way, the logo doesn’t lose its authenticity. The new logo also has a corporate feel to it, which is exactly what we are going forward with.

Fabs: What was the challenge in coming up with the final design?

Joy: Convincing the new logo to EcoKnights for sure. Well of course the challenge is that I have to make sure the logo is perennial, and at the same time the logo must be able to convey its message and represent the look of the festival in its self. I had a few moments of designer block, but with the help of EcoKnights Founder and the team, we manage to pull it off.

Fabs: How do you think the logo will suit the KLEFF feel for the next coming years? How will the public remember the logo?

Joy: Visually, I hope with a color combination of gold, black and white, it shows formality, elegance and prestige. This comes hand in hand with our future to become corporate, and showcases KLEFF’s maturity. I think the public will quite appreciate that. The colors aren’t too old or too young, it captures all.

Fabs: What else do you hope to achieve in the future (from creative and communications perspective) with EcoKnights?

Joy: The biggest dream that I wish I could achieve with EcoKnights from creative and communications is that I hope one day EcoKnights will be a one stop centre for producing eco-graphic-content/material and hopefully those graphics will become one of the well-known factors in EcoKnights!

Official Video Of The 9th Interational Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF) 2016.

The official video of the 9th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF) is finally here, check THIS out!!! A big thank you to the Begedas production team for creating such an awesome video of KLEFF 2016.