Malaysian Films in Pusan

Posted by The Visitor at 10:05am.

Posted in Film News , Film Festivals, Random Festival News, Documentary, Comedy, Drama, Asia, indiefilmcafe, Short Films.

Last year was a landmark for Malaysian independent cinema and the film industry in general, with Tan Chui Mui’s win at the Pusan International Film Festival for her digital drama, Love Conquers All. This year seems to be getting more interesting.

Apart from the news today, that Liew Seng Tat’s feature debut, Flower In The Pocket, will be competing in Pusan’s New Currents section, there’s also a special focus on what is now termed New Malaysian Cinema, the independent movement that started with Amir Muhammad’s Lips To Lips in 2000. The special program, called Three Colours Of New Malaysian Cinema, will feature six feature films and three short films. Among them, James Lee’s third film in his Betrayal Trilogy, Waiting For Love, is also in the Official Selection (the first two in the trilogy are Before We Fall In Love Again and Things We Do When We Fall In Love).

Pusan says of the new trend in Malaysian films:

Currently, Malaysia is witnessing the appearance of a new generation in filmmaking. Owing to the spread of digital technology, this new generation reflects the uniqueness of the multiracial and multilingual Malaysian society. The films are produced in multi or intersecting languages, and deal with various issues and topics.

The films in the Three Colours programme are:

As I Lay Dying (short film)
Director: Ho Yuhang
On a rainy day, a boy comes back home and lies in his bed, pretending to be asleep. However, he becomes anxious that he might be slowly dying.

Blue Roof (short film)
Director: Woo Ming Jin
Albert’s unique pleasure in his routine as a security guard is to enjoy the view of the world on the blue roof of the apartment. But one day, a burglar slips away and he gets fired.

Cinta (feature)
Director: Kabir Bhatia
Harris’s wife is in love with someone else. Dyan loves another woman’s husband. Ariel is searching for her loved one while Taufiq is in love with Ariel. Elysa suffers from Alzheimer’s. Their stories come together in a miracle of love.

Dancing Bells (feature)
Director: Deepak Kumaran Menon
A teenage boy from a poor Indian family in Malaysia finds the right path in life. The dancing bell, used in Indian traditional dance which his sister wants to learn, represents hope.

Flower In The Pocket (feature)
Director: Liew Seng Tat
Sui is too busy with work to pay much attention to his two sons, Li Ahh and Li Ohm. One day, the boys bring home a stray dog. Seeing the care that his sons put into raising the dog, Sui realizes what his children truly need.

Mukhsin (feature)
Director: Yasmin Ahmad
Orked, an energetic tomboy, enjoys climbing trees and flying kites with Mukhsin, her best friend. They become aware of an unfamiliar feeling growing between them. Sometimes, the biggest threat to love can be friendship.

Nobody’s Girlfriend (short film)
Director: Tan Chui Mui
The story is inspired by Nadav Lapid’s Emile’s Girlfriend. Tan Chui Mui calls the film her French impression.

Village People Radio Show (feature documentary)
Director: Amir Muhammad
In Malaysia where Muslim Malays are imperative figures, the government propagates that the communist party consists mostly of pagan Chinese in order to drive them out. But most of them are Muslim Malays who live in a southern Thai village.

Waiting For Love (feature)
Director: James Lee
Three couples living together question whether to seek, reject, or go on without marriage. Past fantasy and passion, they keep harping on love but are left with reality.

Meanwhile, Flower In The Pocket was largely financed by Tan Chui Mui, with her $30,000 win in Pusan last year. The film will have its world premiere in Pusan on October 5, and then its North American premiere in Vancouver Film Festival on October 7. The film has also been invited to the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Its Malaysian release is scheduled for January 2008.

The film was produced by Da Huang Pictures, a collective consisting of Tan, Liew, Lee and Amir. The film’s producer, Michelle Lo, and assistant director/production manager, Charlotte Lim, are both currently in Beijing and Shanghai, being involved in the Hollywood production, The Mummy 3.