Kuala Lumpur World Film Festival The Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival had its beginnings in February 2003 when the one-off, three-day Kuala Lumpur World Film Festival was organised by the
National Film Development Corporation Malaysia, or FINAS. Organised in conjunction with the
Non-Aligned Movement Conference being held that year, the theme was "Peace, Harmony, Non-Violence and Non-Discrimination." From 16 to 18 February 2003, KLWFF '03 managed to gather participants from over 40 countries throughout the world and marked the beginning of Kuala Lumpur's involvement in the global film industry. Carrying similar objectives as Kuala Lumpur World Film Festival 2003, FINAS proposed in 2006 to the
Malaysian government to organize an annual film festival named
Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival (KLIFF) with a new brand, theme and business approach to benefit filmmakers, producers, creative and technical talents, film students, sponsors, business entities related to the film industry and film enthusiasts throughout the world.
2007 festival With the theme, "Celebrating Cultural Diversity", the inaugural Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival screened 50 films from 18 countries. The competition featured 22 films from the five continents of Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America, as well as documentaries, short films and animation. The budget for the film festival was 4 million
Malaysian ringgit. Among the competition entries was one
Malaysian film,
1957: Hati Malaya. A non-competition film making its premiere was
Long Road to Heaven, an Indonesian film about the
2002 Bali bombings. The festival was held from 28 November – 2 December 2007 with screenings at the
Cathay Cineleisure Mutiara Damansara and the Perdana Awards ceremony at the
Putra World Trade Centre. ==Awards==