The Jeonju 10 – Jeonju International Film Festival 2009

It sounds like a mafia gang, doesn’t it? The Jeonju 10. Armed to the teeth with their bibimpap, and decked out in traditional takyeon gear, you don’t mess with the Jeonju 10. Partly because they’re not a happy bunch of old fellas, and…well, mainly because there are 10 of them.

Of course, that is not what I’m writing about here. It is that time of the year again when the film festival journey kicks off for me for the year 2009. Actually, I lied; it sort of kicked off two weekends ago at the Women’s Film Festival in Seoul (the ‘in Seoul’ part is actually a part of the name, so what you get for the abbreviation is WFFIS).

Wet and Dry – Towelhead

I remember being first intrigued by this film by the title, more than anything else. Though I didn’t know then what the meaning of towelhead actually is, I hazarded a very good guess (which turned out to be true: derogatory way to speak of Muslims/Arabs). I wasn’t particularly offended; if anything, the thought more than just amused me a little. It was also promoted by Aaron Ekhart on ‘The Daily Show’, at a time when ‘The Dark Knight’ was still being shown at most theaters across the country. “Busy man,” I had thought to myself, as he playfully joked around with the host, Jon Stewart.

But really, it was the premise of the exploration of the Muslim perception in America that truly intrigued me. I had thought that the film intended to look at the negative experience that one might face as a Muslim in America. Such subject matters, for obvious reasons, have always interested me, and so I kept more than just an eye out for it.

Crawling in My Skin – Cicakman 2

There are, predictably, those who are willing to write off this film from the get go. It’s not exactly surprising, given that the first film, though it made a barrel-load of cash for the makers, wasn’t exactly a critical success…and that’s putting it mildly. In short, ‘Cicakman’ made considerable steps forward in terms of on-screen technology for Malaysian films, but it still looked like something that wouldn’t look out of place on a Saturday morning cartoon schedule list.

Nevertheless, though apples tend not to fall far from the tree, it is still not the same as the tree. With that in mind, I was more than willing to tick it on the festival list, and give it a go.

Boy Wonder – Azharr Rudin

Initially, I am always confused as to whether there is only a single ‘R’ in his name. Perhaps it is a slight attempt to mark himself out a bit more differently from the rest. If that is the intention, then he needn’t have worried so much; Azharr Rudin can safely assume the mantle of ‘Boy Wonder’ for the Malaysian independent film scene. I don’t know how pleased he would be with me bestowing that title upon him, but really…he does look very young.

Then again, he is still young, in relative terms. Yet, he can already sit back and look upon the awards upon praise that has been bestowed upon him since his very first film, ‘Dancing Kites’. With the release of his first feature film, ‘Punggok Rindukan Bulan’, late last year, the kudos has not stopped raining on him; if showering such praise is a crime, then Ben McKay may well be locked up for it.

The Missing – Punggok Rindukan Bulan

The length and breadth of the films, and its types, that is available in Malaysia, is not something that we should turn our noses up at. That is not to say that ‘Punggok Rindukan Bulan’ would have been something that would have been enjoyed up and down the country by everyone. Indeed, even before the very beginning, I had been able to predict roughly at the kind of film that ‘Punggok’ is, and the reception that it would receive upon its release.

I was right on both counts.

Zeitgeist – Kami

Zeitgeist. That is the only word that came to mind as I watched this film. Continuing a series of reviews in the vein of ‘DVDs I bought in Malaysia but only managed to get round to watching it now’ (following on from ‘Budak Kelantan’), ‘Kami’ is a film that I have been somewhat anticipating. For one thing, there’s the impression that it’s something of a coming of age road movie. I haven’t seen one of those for a while, lest one that’s made in Malaysia. With the conditions of our roads, however, I am not particularly surprised that the road movie is something of a rarity in contrast to the rest of its genre brethrens.

Alas, it was not to be.

The Malay and Malaysian Film – Where Are We? (part 2)

Should Malay Films continue to be Malay Films?
One approach that should be continued is the furthering of Malay films as films made in Malaysia. This is because the Malay language is the national language, one that does not exist outside of the Malay Archipelago. It is one that is easily acceptable as a language that reflects Malaysia from any point of view. The non-Malay language can always be used to reflect the position of the language i.e. spoken in the community among people of the same language culture, or in telling about some background information, so long as it can enhance the cinematic impact required by a film.

To this end, the effort to produce Malaysian films should do this two-pronged approach:

• Increase the production of Malay films.
• Building the foundation of distributing Malaysian film that deals with Malaysian issues from the perspective of other races.