Rotasi wins Singtel's The 5-Min Video Challenge

Source: Singtel. From left: Simon Israel, Chairman, Singtel Group; Pak Ririek Adriansyah, Telkomsel CEO; Destian Rendra, Director for Rotasi; Denny Pradama Kusuma, star of Rotasi; Director for Pagnanakaw; Chua Sock Koong, Singtel Group CEO.

Indonesia’s Rotasi (Rotates) directed by Destian Rendra is the Grand Winner of the inaugural The 5-Min Video Challenge organised by the Singtel Group. Rotasi beat 11 other entries from Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Tanzania to take home the first prize. Pagnanakaw (Stealing) by Miguel Sotto from the Philippines was the runner-up.

Simon Israel, Chairman of the Singtel Group, and Chua Sock Koong, Singtel Group’s Chief Executive Officer, presented cash prizes of US$30,000 and US$15,000 to the directors of Rotasi and Pagnanakaw, respectively.

Rotasi is about a photographer who is feuding with his best friend and his girlfriend. He loses faith in the enduring rotation of the earth as he seems to be somehow stuck in love and life. In the end however, he goes through a journey that restores his faith. The runner-up, Pagnanakaw, is about a \young man tasked to travel every day to a faraway shop to buy tofu for his family. The container he brings with him is small and only gets filled with a few pieces, just enough for a day. While faithfully carrying out his daily duty, he often wonders why he’s not allowed to bring a bigger container in order to make his journeys more efficient. One day, however, his tofu-fetching task throws up an illuminating answer to life.

“We were pleased by the overwhelming number of entries which shows Asia is burgeoning with talent.  The ones that spoke to the judges had compelling storylines that took us on an emotional journey. Short films are powerful narratives because in many cases, less is always more,” said Eric Khoo, Director and regional judging panel representative of The 5-Min Video Challenge.

Two People’s Choice awards were also given out. Destian Rendra also received US$3,000 for winning the popular vote for Rotasi, while Thailand’s Yuttana Kanchanapinpong collected the runner-up prize of US$2,000 cash for Hello Gorgeous.

“We have seen an amazing display of creative talent here tonight. Congratulations to all our winners. They have proven that short, made-for-mobile videos can capture the hearts and minds of audiences. We look forward to entertaining all our customers across the group with original and quality content we will curate from our new library of five-minute videos,” said Mark Chong, CEO, Singtel International, during the award ceremony.   The winners, runners-up and finalists’ videos will be screened on the Group’s mobile and video platforms across Asia, Africa and Australia, reaching about 630 million customers.

Conceptualised to drive content innovation and engage customers across the Group’s markets, the inaugural The 5-Min Video Challenge attracted close to 600 video submissions from Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Tanzania and Thailand.

Interested?

View the finalists' videos, including Rotasi and Pagnanakaw