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<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMinister Datuk Seri Christina Liew said support would come from the Sabah Wildlife Department, as the elephant is an endangered species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt will be the first ever film in Malaysia to be shot in close proximity to these majestic animals,\u201d she said after a presentation on the film project by Jeanette Chong Tze Ling, Director of Mondo Ab Films Sdn Bhd, a Kota Kinabalu based production company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chong, a Sabahan scriptwriter, director and producer, said the 90-minute feature will spotlight Agatis, a four-year-old female pygmy elephant, and Aki, a two-year-old male pygmy elephant, both from the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary within the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said support from the Ministry and the Sabah Wildlife Department would boost confidence among potential funders and sponsors to contribute within their means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The film is backed by over 50 years of combined experience in storytelling, wildlife cinematography and filmmaking, with a team of seasoned professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the film\u2019s logline. Both orphaned children, a young lost boy named Dhiren and a baby pygmy elephant named Agatis, come from two different worlds. They find each other in the magical Borneo jungle, where they bond and become entangled in a battle to protect Agatis\u2019s species from greedy poachers,\u201d Chong said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She stressed the urgent need to raise awareness of the Bornean pygmy elephant and highlight the importance of coexistence through film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI met Jibius Dausip, the Elephant Whisperer, in 2023 to learn more about the Bornean elephant and encountered baby Agatis for the first time,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chong said Sandakan was chosen as the film location due to its proximity to Kinabatangan, which makes it ideal for the main cast and the baby elephant to bond before filming begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn July, we will hold an open casting for children in Sandakan. We welcome participation from more NGOs and local communities in Kinabatangan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filming is expected to begin in mid-August or September once funding is secured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Agatis: A Borneo Story (AABS), which is set to begin filming between August and September this year, has received support from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment. Minister Datuk Seri Christina Liew said support would come from the Sabah Wildlife Department, as the elephant is an endangered species. \u201cIt will be the first ever…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/PHOTO-2025-06-22-11-40-40.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}