Motion Foundry

Wishing our fellow Sarawakians a Happy Sarawak Day! ✨

July 22 is more than a date on the calendar.

It is a question Sarawak is still answering.

In 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government. Less than two months later, Malaysia was formed. Those two dates sit close together, but they do not tell the same story.

When we made Sarawak’s Untold History, we did not want to turn history into a lecture. We wanted to listen — to the people who lived it, and to the memories that rarely make it into a classroom.

Ahead of Sarawak Day, we revisit the four-part documentary and the questions it leaves with us: identity, fairness, belonging, and what we choose to pass on.

Read the full reflection:
https://www.motionfoundry.com.my/post/sarawak-day-untold-history-documentary

What part of Sarawak’s story do you hope the next generation will remember?

July 22 asks us to look back. What we do after that is about the future.

Sarawak Day: Revisiting Sarawak's Untold History | Motion Foundry A reflection on July 22 through the voices, memories and questions behind Sarawak's Untold History, a four-part documentary produced by Motion Foundry.

How do you film a drama scene in a place that is still open to visitors? 🎬

These BTS moments were captured during the longhouse scenes of My Longhouse Wife from Elsewhere, filmed at Sarawak Cultural Village.

Unlike a closed studio set, this location remained active while we were filming. Visitors were moving in and out, and the crew had to carefully manage timing, camera position, lighting, performance, and continuity without losing the rhythm of the scene.

Every department had to stay alert — from camera and lighting to art, styling, sound, and direction — so the longhouse would not just look like a location, but feel like part of the story.

If you were on set, which do you think would be the hardest to manage?
A. Visitors moving around.
B. Lighting inside the longhouse.
C. Keeping continuity.
D. Coordinating actors and crew.

🎬 My Longhouse Wife from Elsewhere
📍 Sarawak Cultural Village

The first day of shoot started with a river, a jungle, and one big question — would the weather hold? 🍃

These BTS moments were taken during the outdoor scenes of My Longhouse Wife from Elsewhere.

For a scene like this, everything depends on timing: sunlight, river condition, cast movement, camera position, and the rhythm between the actors and crew.

Thankfully, the sun came through for us that day.

Now we want to hear your guess: What do you think is happening in this scene?
A. They are escaping.
B. They are searching for someone.
C. They are about to discover something unexpected.
D. Something else entirely.

🎬 My Longhouse Wife from Elsewhere
📍 Damai River | Permai Rainforest Resort

A crown can sit inside a museum.

But the knowledge of how to wear it lives in people’s hands.

Gajah Olen is part of Sarawak Malay bridal heritage — not just an object, but a dressing tradition built from memory, patience, and skill.

For this short documentary, we filmed at Borneo Cultures Museum in Kuching to look beyond the crown itself:

the people who still remember it,
the hands that know how to prepare it,
and the reason traditions like this need to be recorded before they become only display pieces.

Read the story behind the film:
https://www.motionfoundry.com.my/post/gajah-olen-kuching-video-production

What Sarawak tradition do you think deserves to be documented next?

The Bridal Crown Sarawak Almost Forgot Behind the scenes of Gajah Olen: a Kuching documentary preserving the Sarawak Malay bridal crown worn once in a lifetime, filmed at Borneo Cultures Museum.

Some stories can be made anywhere.

This one had to be made here.

The White Rajah of Sarawak is now in production as Sarawak’s first animated musical feature film — created in Kuching by Motion Foundry, and rooted in a story that belongs deeply to this land.

From a stage musical first performed in 2017 to a feature film planned for release on Sarawak Day 2028, this is a project about memory, history, music, animation, and why local stories deserve to be made by local hands.

Read the story behind the film:
https://www.motionfoundry.com.my/post/the-white-rajah-of-sarawak-animated-feature

The White Rajah of Sarawak — Animated Musical Film (2028) Sarawak's first animated musical feature film. The story of James Brooke, made in Kuching by Motion Foundry — in cinemas 22 July 2028, Sarawak Day.