Disappearing Verses

Their numbers are dwindling; where do the keepers of the Kadazan Dusun (Sabahan natives) traditions stand in the face of modernisation?

  • Ricardo Unto
    Director
    Bangku, dekat
  • Ricardo Unto
    Writer
  • Ricardo Unto
    Producer
  • Singkaban @ Jonjongan Kowil (Odun Badin)
    Key Cast
  • Melvin Sebastian
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Completion Date:
    November 30, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    1,200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Malaysia
  • Country of Filming:
    Malaysia
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 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' Competition
    Kota Kinabalu
    Malaysia
    Honourable Mention
  • San Francisco Arthouse Short Festival

    Semi-finalist
  • Japan International Film Festival

    Honourable Mention
Director Biography - Ricardo Unto

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.

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