Disappearing Verses
Their numbers are dwindling; where do the keepers of the Kadazan Dusun (Sabahan natives) traditions stand in the face of modernisation?
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Ricardo UntoDirectorBangku, dekat
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Ricardo UntoWriter
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Ricardo UntoProducer
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Singkaban @ Jonjongan Kowil (Odun Badin)Key Cast
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Melvin SebastianKey Cast
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Project Type:Documentary, Short
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Completion Date:November 30, 2020
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Production Budget:1,200 USD
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Country of Origin:Malaysia
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Country of Filming:Malaysia
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Projek Dialog Digital Diversity Festival
Malaysia
Winner (Best Digital Initiative) -
IndieFest Film Awards
Winner (Award of Recognition) -
Seoul International Film Festival
Winner (Best Short Documentary) -
Roma Short Film Festival
Finalist -
Tokyo International Short Film Festival
Finalist -
Serbest International Film Festival
Semi-finalist -
KKIFF2021 - Filmmakers' CompetitionKota Kinabalu
Malaysia
Honourable Mention -
San Francisco Arthouse Short Festival
Semi-finalist -
Japan International Film Festival
Honourable Mention
Independent filmmaker Ricardo Unto is a native of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
His works always revolve around the experimentation of production equipment, editing tool and topics.
'Disappearing Verses' is his third film project as director/producer.
His stop-motion animation film 'Bangku' (2016, 1 min 17 sec) or 'Chair' in English, recounted a community of ‘chairs’ faced by a giant enemy – a ball. The film was fully shot on a smartphone.
'Bangku' won third place in the 2016 Sabah Screen Fest.
He returned to Sabah Screen Fest in 2018 by submitting 'dekat' (2018, 4 min 16 sec) or 'near' – a non-dialogue psycho-thriller film. The film was also fully shot and edited on a smartphone.
Funded by Projek Dialog, in 2020, he produced 'Disappearing Verses' (2020, 7 min 23 sec) – a documentary on the traditional priestesses and priests of the natives in Sabah.
The film was shot on a compact digital vlogging camera.
'Disappearing Verses' was well-received by the public as it gained more than 30,000 views and more than 1,000 shares within 24 hours of its publication on Facebook.