Latest news with #Mantera
Daily Express
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Express
Mantera casts a spell on big screens nationwide, Brunei
Published on: Thursday, April 24, 2025 Published on: Thu, Apr 24, 2025 By: Ricardo Unto Text Size: Syafie (left) and Jovenea, the lead cast of Mantera. - Pic by Ricardo Unto | Daily Express KOTA KINABALU: The much-awaited horror thriller Mantera began screening in over 50 cinemas nationwide and in Brunei on Thursday (April 24). Kota Kinabalu-based Pro-Merge Vision produces the RM1.2 million film. Spanning 120 minutes, Mantera fuses supernatural horror with ancient Dusunic traditions rooted in Sabah's cultural heritage. It follows Tana, a young woman who inherits mystical powers from her bobolian ancestry. When malevolent forces descend upon her village, Tana is drawn into a chilling chain of deaths and paranormal events. With the help of Inspektor Zaf, they work together to confront the darkness threatening their community. The cast features Jovenea Jim as Tana and Syafie Naswip as Zaf, alongside Namron, Eva Sandra Duin, and Devey Grayc. Jovenea, a 2011 State Unduk Ngadau first runner-up, won Best Actress for the short film Ninavau in 2019. Syafie, a veteran Malaysian actor, is a Best Actor winner at the Malaysian Film Festival and Anugerah Skrin. Mantera marks director Chester Pang's debut feature and showcases Sabah's landscapes and Dusunic spiritualism with striking cinematography by Tim Stephen of Sinakagon fame. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
New Straits Times
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Syafie Naswip once threatened to report production to police for unpaid wages
KUALA LUMPUR: Popular actor Syafie Naswip once threatened to file a police report against a production company for failing to pay him several years ago. However, the company quickly paid him for his work on a television drama before he actually reported them to the police. "Actually, it's an old incident. Maybe I was still young at that time, but thank God I no longer face the problem of late payments," he said in a Harian Metro report yesterday. Syafie will soon appear in the supernatural film Mantera produced by Pro Merge Vision Sdn Bhd. He said that despite having won Best Actor at the Malaysian Film Festival a few times, he believed in working with different production companies, big and small. "This new film is set in Sabah and I want to help companies from East Malaysia become successful in Peninsular Malaysia, for the sake of Bangsa Malaysia," he said. "I love working with new companies, it doesn't matter if the film is big or small, I don't choose as long as I can learn something. "I also want to learn more about the diverse cultures of the peoples of East Malaysia. "East-West collaborations are great for nation-building and it would be great if more production companies from Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan thrive in Peninsular Malaysia." Mantera, which is directed by Chester Pang, will open in cinemas nationwide on Thursday. It focuses on the traditional practices of the Bobolian who serve as cultural guardians of the Kadazan-Dusun peoples of Sabah. Besides Syafie, Mantera also stars Namron, Jovenia Jim, Wedylin Batala and Larry Noh.
