About Us

JSP creates, curates and develop events, not any event but special events. Some say we are more into festivals and that is not totally untrue, in that the company has been the official secretariat of George Town Festival in Penang, Malaysia since 2010.

Yes, George Town Festival is our pride, bringing it from a mere 1-day celebration of the 2008 UNESCO heritage listing of the town, to its globally recognised status – in 2014 New York Times said the festival “is starting to make its name as a major Asian arts event”). Entitled Old Colonial City in Malaysia Becomes a Stage also said “the festival organizers set artists loose into historic buildings, pre-war shophouses and streets, turning the two- centuries-old city into a giant stage. So yes, we are into placemaking as well, with branding being one of our core strengths.

In 2014 JSP presented the first ever Tropfest in Penang – Tropfest SEA, the southeast Asian of Tropfest which is the largest short film festival in the world. Continuing it for a second year in 2015, Tropfest SEA created the short film competition which received submissions from most of the countries in the region and Festival Nights brought in film personalities such as award winning cinematographer Christopher Doyle, award-winning director of Harvey Krumpet, Adam Elliott and Golden Globe-nominated film director Robert Luketic of Legally Blonde. Top regional film directors were amongst the jury and VIP lists.

JSP created and produced Rainforest Fringe Festival, a commission by the Sarawak Tourism Ministry in 2017 and 2018. Rainforest Fringe Festival will return to Kuching , Sarawak in July 2019.

Over the years, through the festivals, we have had the privilege of hosting spectacular events spanning the arts – from world-class performances to cross-cultural creative collaborations, experimental art, traditional and contemporary performing arts, as well as exciting local community initiatives and public installations.

WE THINK BIG AND BOLD INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s – SUTRA | PLAY (Belgium)

Akhram Khan’s – VERTICAL ROAD | KAASH (UK)

Royston Abel’s – THE KITCHEN | THE MANGANIYAR SEDUCTION | THE MANGANIYAR CLASSROOM (India)

Shaun Parker and Company’s – AM I | TROLLEYS (Australia)

TITANIUM (Spain), MISSING (United Kingdom)

ALL THAT FALL(Ireland), CHEKARA (Spain)

HAKANAI(FRANCE), TRIPTYQUE (Canada)

SMASHED (United Kingdom), 6 & 8 BY TAO (China)

A SIMPLE SPACE (Australia)

UNIQUE PROGRAMMING

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

100% PENANG

(RIMINI PROTOKOLL | GERMANY)

Gala (JEROME BEL | FRANCE)

SITE SPECIFIC & COMMISSIONED

KELANTAN

ERNEST ZACHAREVIC

SILAT BRIDGES | KAKI LIMA | MOVED by Padi

2 HOUSES | HAI KI XIN LOR | PEARL AT THE E&O

OTHERS

BLIND (Brazil)

ISLE OD DREAMS (Taiwan)

YARON KOHLBERG (Italy)

SLOW SOUND OF SNOW (Iran)

WE CANNOT TALK ABOUT IT (Iran)

BROKEN NAILS (Poland)

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS BY JOE SIDEK PRODUCTIONS

GEORGE TOWN FESTIVAL

George Town Festival is an annual, month-long celebration of culture, heritage, art, and community.Inaugurated in 2010 in honor of Georgetown’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the festival transforms the city into a global stage, showcasing world-class performances, installations, and collaborations from international and local artists alike. With over one hundred unique events each year, the festival seeks to create new and vibrant connections between the traditional and contemporary, the past and the future. George Town Festival has become one of Malaysia’s – and Asia’s – must-see events. The festival has just finished its ninth year, and drawing thousands of visitors each year to Penang has been managed by Joe Sidek Productions Sdn Bhd since 2010.

RAINFOREST FRINGE FESTIVAL

Rainforest Fringe Festival, RFF premiered in 2017 and is held as a prelude to the famed Rainforest World Music Festival. Much more than an adventure destination, the festival brings visitors to experience another side of Sarawak through its history, nature, and culture. The 10- day spectacle will be filled with spellbinding sights, superb sounds, and tantalising tastes of Sarawak in the heart of Kuching. The festival promises to mesmerise city visitors with a wide range of events covering music, arts, crafts, film, photography, food, culture and nature. The second edition was held from the 6th to the 15th of July 2018 and will return again for the third year this 5th to 12th July 2019.

While GTF has undoubtedly played a huge role in putting the spotlight on Penang, Sidek, whose contract to run the festival ends next year, said: “It’s just a piece of jigsaw to help paint the full picture. You’ve also got the UNESCO listing, the people, the spaces themselves.”

Mayo Martin

Channel NewsAsia

TROPFEST SOUTH EAST ASIA

Tropfest Southeast Asia, [Tropfest SEA] the Asian edition of Tropfest, which began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people in Sydney, Australia ad which has since became the largest platform for short films in the world. All Tropfest events are freed to attend. The 1st Tropfest SEA was presented in Penang, Malaysia in January 2014 to contribute to the development of the film industry in ASEAN countries by providing opportunities for filmmakers to bring their short films to the community in the region as well as to the rest of the world.

PUTRAJAYA LIFT FESTIVAL

The inaugural Putrajaya LIFT Festival 2019, a festival with the objective of strengthening financial literacy will also aim to inspire and showcase relevant and practical information on financial empowerment in today’s dynamic technology and digital world.

An experiential weekend event, the first of its kind in Malaysia, Putrajaya LIFT Festival took place on the 28th and 29th December 2019 in the heart of Putrajaya. With a series of activities and programmes over the two days covering talks, e-commerce, music, high-tech performing arts, banking, entrepreneurship, conference, sports and e-sports, education, food, and many more, LIFT aspires to educate and engage the public on the future in…everything.