Hiong’s film beat four others – “Dead Destination” and “Faith” from the UK, “Edwin” (Canada) and “Thousands of Years” (the US) – in the festival’s Feature Film category.

Hiong, 50, said they were only trying their luck by submitting their work to several foreign film festivals but did not expect to meet with any success.

“Previously, the film received critical acclaim from film critics on YouTube. So, we are proud of this victory because it is important for the team and at the same time this success will be our benchmark for future films,” he told Bernama today.

The film, produced by Mico Studio (M) Sdn Bhd, tells the story of a group of content creators who receive an extraordinary job offer to film at the long-abandoned theme park, Mimaland, popular in the 1980s.

Throughout the group’s time there gathering “content”, various strange things occur consecutively, and members of their group end up dead after unknowingly invoking the mystical spirits there.

The Johor Bahru-born Hiong has worked in the movie industry for over 10 years, and started as a cinematographer.

Among the many Malay movies he worked on are “Cerita Kita”, “Nasi Kangkang”, “Jin”, “Cerita Hantu Malaysia” and “Highland Tower” before making his debut in the world of directing through the action-comedy-science fiction film on drift racing, “Kampung Drift”, in 2016.

“Each of these experiences were important steps in my body of work. They had a rhythm and were interconnected with each other,” he said.

Apart from that, Hiong added that “Miimaland” was also nominated in several international film festivals namely the Portland Horror Film Festival, Brussels Independent Film Festival and Europe Film Festival.

“Miimaland” premiered in local cinemas on Sept 24, 2020, featuring a line-up of local actors such as Fattah Amin, Sophia Albarakbah, Zandra Ridhuwan, Camelia Natasya, Hazzy Alzeeq, Zalif Sidek and two Korean actors, Chelsea Esdher Wang and Cindy Dahyun Ohn.