ANN/THE STAR – Celebrations are in order as the work of Malaysian artists gains international acclaim. Two directors have recently achieved this with their first film.
Amanda Nell Eu’s debut feature, Tiger Stripes, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s International Critics’ Week section, making history as the first Malaysian film to win the grand prize for best feature. This achievement is also a first for Souteast Asian cinema.
The film tells the story of a 12-year-old girl, played by Zafreen Zairizal, navigating puberty and facing the challenges of her changing body. Notably, Tiger Stripes was Malaysia’s official entry in the Best International Feature category at the Oscars, adding to its global recognition.
Although it didn’t make the final list of nominees, Eu had expressed pride that her film was chosen as the official entry for the Academy Awards.
Despite all of Tiger Stripes’ successes, it was unfortunate that Malaysians didn’t get to watch the film in its entirety when it was released locally on October 19 as the Censorship Board had trimmed some scenes.
When this happened, Eu took to social media, stating that she ‘does not stand behind the cut’ approved for the Malaysian release.
“The film that will be shown in local cinemas is not the film that we made… What has been censored from the film is the very joy of being a young girl in Malaysia,” Eu wrote.
The second film that has garnered global attention is Jin Ong’s directorial debut, Abang Adik, starring Malaysian actor Jack Tan and Taiwanese actor Wu Kang Ren as two undocumented men struggling to make ends meet in Malaysia.
Abang Adik became the first Malaysian film to take top honours at Italy’s Far East Film Festival – winning the Golden Mulberry Audience Award, the Black Dragon Critics’ prize, and the White Mulberry Award for Best First Feature.
The film also gained victory at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards last month when Wu was named Best Actor.
To top it off, the film made an impressive MYR2.2 million over a three-day period at the box office when it opened at cinemas in Taiwan on December 1 last year.
It was released in Malaysia on December 14, and those who have watched the film are struck by how true to life the issues brought up in the film are, besides the great acting and storytelling.
Two other remarkable films that are also noteworthy are the action flick Malbatt: Misi Bakara and the biopic Anwar: The Untold Story. Both are based on real events.
Malbatt depicted an incident one night in 1993 when the Malaysian Battalion participated in a rescue mission in Somalia, alongside the United States and Pakistani military forces.
Director Adrian Teh went the extra mile to recreate not only the event, but the soldiers’ uniform, the weaponry and the military vehicles for the film.
Anwar: The Untold Story followed the journey of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, specifically from when he was first appointed as Finance Minister in 1991 to his dismissal from the cabinet in 1998 and the ‘Reformasi’ campaign which contributed to his imprisonment that year.
It’s reported that the biopic, starring Farid Kamil in the titular role, made MYR1 million on its opening day back in May.
Malbatt – produced with a budget of MYR20 million, making it the most expensive film made in Malaysia – raked in MYR25 million at the box-office.
The box-office champion this year is none other than Polis Evo 3, which has actors Shaheizy Sam and Zizan Razak reprising their roles as partners in fighting crime. It earned a total of MYR50 million, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023.
Directed by Syafiq Yusof, the third installment also gets the title of number one best-selling action-comedy film in Malaysia of all time.
This means the Polis Evo franchise is now the top-grossing Malaysian franchise – the first film made MYR18 million, while Polis Evo 2 raked in MYR22.4 million.
