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The 2014 BMW Shorties short film competition has finally found its winner for this year in the form of Rozita binti Roslan, an independent (indie) romantic comedy short film directed by Taufiq Kamal Abdul Rahman. The 10-minute short film was chosen ahead of 67 other entries.

Already in its eight iteration, the competition offers a chance for budding filmmakers to showcase their work and plays a vital role as a platform in helping to develop the nation's cinematic potential. The grand prize winner stands to receive a RM75,000 production grant.

Apart from taking home the top prize, Rozita binti Roslan also bagged top honours for the People's Choice Award, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Sound Design. "This is our first year joining the BMW Shorties, and with the pool of talented short filmmakers as our contenders, we feel extremely honoured to be awarded the Grand Prize. The most memorable moment for us was the process itself, where we felt a strong sense of excitement when watching our ideas unfold on screen," said Taufiq Kamal.

The film follows the characters of Ilham and Rozita as they explore the meaning behind love and relationships. The characters also navigate the complexities of the bonds they form with others and how the value of certain objects and people increase as more significant emotional investment is devoted into it.

"The short film is very trendy in its writing where it carries an 'avantgarde' method of storytelling in the Malay language, which is now becoming a trend in modern Malay literature. It is really nice seeing this sort of writing being translated to the film medium," said Bront Palarae, one of the judges of the competition.