KUALA LUMPUR: Animated works Ejen Ali The Movie and Alif & Sofia were recently named Malaysia's winners at the 2020 Asian Academy Creative Awards.
The announcement was made on the Asian Academy Creative Awards (AAA) Facebook page, which saw Ejen Ali The Movie winning Best Direction (Fiction) for director Usamah Zaid Yasin, and Alif & Sofia clinching Best Preschool Programme award for co-producers Primeworks Studios and Blindspot Studios.
Currently reigning as Malaysia's No.1 animated film, Ejen Ali The Movie which was co-produced by Primeworks Studios and WAU Animation, raked in a whopping RM30 million at the box-office.
This is the second win for Ejen Ali at AAA, after the TV series' 2018 win for Malaysia in the Best 3D Animated Programme or Series category.
Alif & Sofia is a 3D-animated series created for the YouTube audience that features the adventures of siblings — curious Alif and spunky Sofia — who find fun in the everyday through stories, songs and imaginative play, inspired by Islamic life lessons.
Primeworks Studios CEO Datuk Ahmad Izham Omar, said: "This is an exceptional achievement for us, coupled with the opportunity to represent Malaysia to compete at AAA's regional level and to be featured among the best content from all over Asia is a milestone achievement in the challenging year the media industry is collectively experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic."
"I would like to congratulate our partners WAU Animation and Blindspot Studios for their excellence in creating stories that showcase Malaysia's animation standards at the international level and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) for championing our Malaysian creators," he added.
The Asian Academy Creative Awards (AAA) celebrates works from Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The event has been established to acknowledge the best content creation works and media productions in the creative industries from the region.
The 2020 Award ceremonies are expected to take place on Dec 3 and 4.