'Bukit Kepong' goes high-definition in August

You may remember 'Bukit Kepong', the war movie about the massacre which took place in Bukit Kepong, Johor in

Come August, movie buffs will be able to enjoy the movie in high-definition (HD) format.

Slated for release during the Merdeka Day celebration, laborious works by the creative teams have borne fruits.

Restoration process was done by Prodigital Lab Sdn Bhd and distributed by United Studios Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of KRU International Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Jins Shamsudin Productions.

KRU chief executive officer, Norman Abdul Halim said the objective of this maiden project is to draw new generation to appreciate the old movies with high-tech visual.

He said the selection of the 34-year-old Bukit Kepong as its first project is due to the fact that the film is rich with aesthetic values.

"We chose Bukit Kepong as our maiden project because the film is rich with historical values which we need to show to the younger generation, in the form of audio visual that is parallel to our present day. If not be preserved, it will be destroyed just like that.

"The challenge of restoring this film is the condition of the negative film itself which have been ages, plus it is the only copy that in a good condition that were kept by Jins Shamsudin's family," said Norman during the launch of the Bukit Kepong HD film trailer at the Pitching Centre Content Malaysia, Platinum Sentral, Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Norman also said the ‘preservation’ of the film's contents was carried out with the utmost care over a span of nine months and chalked up a total of RM100,000 to be completed.

Also present at the laucnch were Tan Sri Jins Shamsudin, his son Putera Hang Jebat, National Film Development Corporation Malaysia ( Finas) director-general, Datuk Kamil Othman and chief executive Officer of Prodigital Lab Sdn Bhd, Archie Nasution.

Jebat who represented his father said that Jins was satisfied with the new look of 'Bukit Kepong'.

“The quality is great, it looks like we had completed filming only yesterday,” he said.

Here's more good news to movie buffs.

United Studios in cooperation with Jins Shamsudin Productions also sealed an agreement to restore classic films from the 'Esok' franchise including Menanti Hari Esok, Esok Masih Ada and Tiada Esok Bagimu.

Words are still not out on when the three films will hit the big screen.