\n\tA Malaysian science-fiction fantasy feature is taking an unconventional approach to distribution. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMimpi Kita: Castle in the Air<\/a>\u201d arrives at the NAFF Project Market\u2019s It Project strand at Korea\u2019s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival<\/a> betting that audience data, gathered in advance, can do some of the work traditionally left to sales agents.<\/p>\n \n\tExecutive producer Foo Hui Yin of Kuala Lumpur-based Kotodama Lab is steering the effort, which uses analytics tools to find and grow online groups already drawn to the film\u2019s genre and themes. The goal: walk into the market with a measurable fan base already in place, rather than betting on one materializing after release.<\/p>\n \n\tThe feature is the directorial debut of Arifin Ajib. At the market, running July 4-7, the team will pitch for co-producers, sales agents and distribution partners. Behind the project are Anti Gravity Euphoria Sdn Bhd and Da Huang Pictures, the banner run by Malaysian New Wave figure Tan Chui Mui, whose credits include \u201cBarbarian Invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHumanity\u2019s exit plan in the film is an Ark fleeing a ruined Earth, made possible in part by a medical breakthrough: dying patients can briefly project their minds into synthetic bodies to be present for milestones they\u2019d otherwise miss. Musician Arda, blocked creatively by grief, loses her grandmother Teja to the system\u2019s digital underlayer. Rather than let her family pull the plug on Teja\u2019s life support, Arda puts her own mind into one of the synthetic bodies and goes looking for her in the dream architecture below.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat begins as a rescue becomes something closer to therapy. Arda is made to relive rejection after rejection buried in Teja\u2019s memories, and the deeper she goes, the clearer it becomes that the whole search is engineered, a structure built for Arda to finally face something true about her own life. At its core, the film asks what one generation owes the next: should the young have to fully grasp the sacrifices that came before them, or can that history dissolve quietly without the love behind it disappearing too?<\/p>\n \n\tAnwari Ashraf, producing and directing on the project, pointed to limited budget and infrastructure as context for what the team pulled off, calling it \u201cinventive, distinctive, and wholly their own.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe added that the film\u2019s primary strength is \u201cits refusal to be anything other than itself.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI was intrigued by the idea of this handcrafted local sci-fi with Nogori roots, and offered to produce for them,\u201d Tan said.<\/p>\n