The upcoming Malaysian sci-fi fantasy Mimpi Kita: Castle in the Air just scored a serious international distribution partner. Abnormal Studios officially boarded the project as its international sales agent and distributor just before the 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) NAFF Project Market kicked off this week in South Korea.
The exclusive agreement arrives exactly as the production team heads to the BIFAN market to solicit global co-production and financing partners, according to an exclusive report by Variety published this morning. That timing creates immediate leverage for the filmmakers on the festival floor.
Directed by Arifin Ajib in his feature debut, the 72-minute multilingual film features dialogue in Nogori, Malay, and Japanese. The plot is incredibly ambitious. Set in a retro-futuristic 1960s Malaya, the story follows a musician who physically enters her dying grandmother’s dream to save her. Once inside, she realizes the older woman has actually been dreaming her entire life.
Producers Tan Chui Mui and Hannah Nazri are steering the project under the Kotodama Lab and Anti-Gravity Euphoria Sdn Bhd banners. And they are taking a highly unconventional route to get the movie onto screens.
Instead of relying entirely on a traditional studio monopoly to bankroll the release, the team is actively running grassroots crowdfunding tiers in Malaysia. By selling early soundtrack access and “Special Thanks” credits directly to fans, they are building a verifiable audience before the film even hits the Asian market. That audience-first strategy effectively de-risks the financial investment for regional theatrical distributors.
Abnormal Studios brings major regional firepower to the table. As a rapidly expanding subsidiary of Westec Media Limited, the distributor has handled over 400 titles across Southeast Asia and Oceania since launching in 2020. They recently successfully launched major regional box office hits including How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies and the action spectacle Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.
Pairing that distribution muscle with Tan Chui Mui—a foundational figure in the Malaysian New Wave cinema movement—gives Mimpi Kita serious credibility on the independent festival circuit.