'Accepted': Yahoo-MAS Cili Padi Awards winner disqualified

A short film about creating your own happiness bagged the coveted Yahoo-MAS Cili Padi Awards 2013. However, just hours after the announcement, the short film has been disqualified.

In a statement issued by Yahoo, the disqualification has come about due to the fact that the video is too similar to a video titled 'One Step Forward', which was uploaded on Vimeo two years ago.

‘Accepted’, directed by 21-year-old mechanical engineering student Muhammad Redha Ampuani, tells the story of a young man’s exhilaration upon acceptance of his proposal by a lovely young lady.

Two short films dealing with nature and animals 'Sly' and 'Tiger' have been declared the winner and runner-up respectively. 'Life' finishes in third place.

The Yahoo-MAS Cili Padi Awards is part of Yahoo’s vision of creating a platform to motivate young filmmakers to use their creativity to produce three-minute short films.

“We are thrilled with the success of the Yahoo-MAS Cili Padi Awards both in terms of quality and quantity. The success reflects the credibility of the Yahoo platform as a creator and facilitator of original content,” Yahoo Malaysia Country Editor Marc Lourdes.

Actresses Sharifah Amani and Lisa Surihani were the judges of the competition.

“While I have complete confidence in the creative talent that exists in Malaysia, I was curious to see how will the aspirants take to the challenges of film length, time provided to produce the film, and possessing the right equipment,” said Sharifah Amani.

Winners take home cash prizes, as well as an internship opportunity at KRU Studios for the first-place winner. The top three winners’ films will be aired nationwide for a period of three weeks at TGV cinemas.