Backyard Rainforests

CAST

Henry S. Barlow
Sofwan bin Badruddin
Simon KL Hok
Angela Hijjas
Raslan bin Hamzah
Abdul Razak
Intan Zarinah
Anjulie Abdul Razak
Thashwini Rajandran

WORLDWIDE AND MALAYSIA PREMIERE

The documentary film Backyard Rainforests will premiere on Saturday March 19 at 8:30pm (8:30 a.m. EDT, 12:30 p.m. GMT) in conjunction with the United Nation’s International Day of Forests weekend. It repeats 20/3 and 21/3 at 3:00 p.m. and 20/3 and 22/3 at 8:30 p.m.

Arboretum of Genting Tea Estate Guided Walk by Henry S. Barlow
After the screening of Backyard Rainforests, you’ll be led on a virtual walk to Henry S. Barlow’s private Genting Tea Estate to see some of the rare and endangered trees in his arboretum which is an important ex-situ conservation site in Peninsular Malaysia. A tree planting and maintenance demonstration ends the walk. 

A Q&A Session

After the Guided Walk, please stay back for a Q&A session about "Forestation in safeguarding trees for the future and the central forest spine" on 19th March 2022 with the following interviewees:

Moderator: HonYuen Leong, documentary journalist
1. Henry S. Barlow of Genting Tea Estate, Pahang
2. Simon KL Hok of Genting Tea Estate, Pahang
3. Angela Hijjas of Rimbun Dahan, Selangor
4. Abdul Razak and Intan Zarinah, co-founders SEEDS Malaysia

Also joining the Q&A session, are the following who appears in a related feature article “Nurturing Rain Forests,” pending publication by StarLifestyle:

5. Mohamed Shah Redza Hussein, Director of Perak State Parks Corporation (PSPC)
6. Afzaa Aziz, Project Manager of Tropical Rainforest Conservation & Research Centre (TRCRC), and 
7. Elango Velautham, former FRIM and now a Singapore-based conservationist of planted dipterocarp rarities

The audience may type questions in Cloud Theatre’s live chat or on Zoom.

In aid of… 

Ticket sales from 19th - 22nd March except for 20th March 8:30 p.m. less platform fees, will benefit the indigenous people’s Hep Ka-Wot Enggang Le-Wei (Forest, Hornbills and Honey) Photography Exhibition Roadshow.

After a year of approaching various sources of private and public funding, the documentary journalist was unable to secure additional funding to exhibit the indigenous people’s conservation photographs. As the documentary journalist believes in giving marginalised communities a voice, she has agreed to fund the cost of the exhibition including printing and mounting the photographs and exhibition materials, and the rental of the virtual cinema hall on CloudTheatre for the films’ screening to raise funds to cover the exhibition-related expenses of the Orang Asli. Special thank you to Angela Hijjas of Rimbun Dahan and Wanida Razali, General Manager of Hin Bus Depot Gallery for hearing the voices of the Orang Asli and sponsoring the exhibition venues.

The documentary journalist now humbly asks that you purchase ticket(s) to watch the documentaries online so that the Orang Asli can have the opportunity to travel from their homes in the forest to Rimbun Dahan in Selangor and to Hin Bus Depot in Penang so that they can attend their own exhibition, share their personal stories about their lives and work in the forest, earn some supplementary income by selling non-timber forest products (wild Tualang honey, beeswax cloth and handicraft), and finally be able to bring the exhibition back to their two villages to show their own communities about what they do to help keep forests healthy. There are six Orang Asli photographers but as there’s only space for three in their colleague’s car, they will each take turns to engage with the public on various weekends. Strict SOPs will be adhered to at all times for the safety of the Orang Asli. 

Jelutong, Keruing and Chengal Ticket Tiers offers you three different contribution amounts to help cover the expenses below:

Total Expenses

RM18,149.61  ||  $4,321.34  ||  £3,184.14

Mileage and meals for one person to install & take down exhibition, and daily travel to check-in visitors for 2 weeks at Rimbun Dahan, Selangor : 

RM1,440.00  ||  $342.86  ||  £252.63

Boat and road travel, accommodation and meals for 3 Orang Asli and 1 MNS to return travel from Belum-Temenggor Forest Complex to Rimbun Dahan Exhibition 19-22/3/22 (1 weekend)

RM2,836.01  ||  $675.24  ||  £497.55

Air and road travel, accommodation and meals for one person to return travel Kuala Lumpur to Penang to install & take down exhibition at Hin Bus Depot, Penang June 1-6, 24-28 (2 weekends)

RM3,760.00  ||  $895.24  ||  £659.65

Boat and road travel, accommodation and meals for 3 Orang Asli and 1 MNS officer to return travel from Belum-Temenggor Forest Complex to Hin Bus Depot Exhibition, Penang - June 3-6, 10-13, 17-20, 24-27 (4 weekends) Orang Asli will attend Q&A with Gallery visitors, assist with talks and educational activities and sell wild honey, beeswax cloth and handicrafts. The MNS officer will be giving talks and overseeing the public programme at the Gallery. No accommodation required for MNS officer.

RM6,080.00  ||  $1,447.62  ||  £1,066.67

Road and boat travel, installation/take-down of exhibition by 4 Orang Asli, an opening exhibition meal for the village at Kampung Chuweh, Temenggor Forest Reserve (August)

RM1,900.00  ||  $452.00  ||  £333.33

Boat travel, installation/take-down of exhibition by 2 Orang Asli, an opening exhibition meal for the village at Kampung Sungai Tiang, Royal Belum State Park (August)

RM1,700.00  ||  $405.00  ||  £298.25

End of exhibition roadshow, transport photo works from Kg Sungai Tiang to Gerik MNS Field Centre for temporary storage until they are returned to the documentary journalist.

RM433.60  ||  $103.00  ||  £76.07

Total Expenses: 

RM18,149.61  ||  $4,321.34  ||  £3,184.14

Ticket sales for 20th March 8:30 p.m. screening less platform fees will benefit the Kampung Klewang Native Tree Nursery run by the Orang Asli Jahai. This project is a collaboration between Perak State Parks Corporation (PSPC) and Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC). The Orang Asli collect forest seeds, germinate and replant in Primary Linkage 2, one of the wildlife corridors of the Central Forest Spine (CFS). The minimum contribution - a Jelutong tier ticket - will buy four dipterocarp plants from the Orang Asli to be replanted in the CFS on your behalf.

Rainforest Journalism Fund
 

This documentary film was produced with support from the Rainforest Journalism Fund in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.

Official Film Website

This film is part of the Public Programme of the Safeguarding the Central Forest Spine: Trees for the Future Project. There will also be a live Indigenous Rain Forest at Rimbun Dahan Guided Walk by Angela Hijjas, and a Hep Ka-Wot Enggang Le-Wei (Forest, Hornbills & Honey) photography exhibition by the Orang Asli of Belum-Temenggor Forest Complex. More information here: www.PokokHutan.my

TRAILER CREDITS

Filming by
Syaiful Adzwan Hashim Bin Shuib
HonYuen Leong
 
Sound Recordist
Noor Syaifully Bin Rahmat

Offline Editor
HonYuen Leong
 
Online Editor, Gradist & Translator
Haseena Zol Azlan
 
Sound Engineer (Audio Post)
Syahreez Redza