Malaysian cinema at TUK: The grass really is greener
Malaysian cinema at TUK: The grass really is greener
Paul F. Agusta, Contributor, pfa0109@yahoo.com
Unlike Indonesia's film industry, which is still struggling to emerge from the swamp of artistic stagnation and the jungle of commercialism, neighboring Malaysia is planting a verdant garden of daring, thoughtful and groundbreaking films that experiment with both content and medium.
Most of the films being produced in Malaysia, as is the case also in Indonesia, are highly commercial (or try to be).
The difference lies in Malaysia's strong but somewhat under- the-radar movement of filmmakers for whom the joy of producing creative cinema is more important than the applause of local audiences.
Therefore, themes tend toward the dissection of their own social and political realities, while in Indonesia this is a rarity indeed. When this is attempted here, as in the case of Arya Kusumadewa's recent film, Novel Tanpa Huruf R, it tends to fail miserably.
Why this is the case remains somewhat of a conundrum, which Teater Utan Kayu (TUK) will attempt to explore this weekend with a presentation of the long and short of contemporary Malaysian film, and what is expected to be a highly thought-provoking discussion with internationally acclaimed Malaysian filmmaker Amir Muhammad.
The screenings start on Friday at 4:30 p.m. with 10 Malaysian short films that have been attracting a lot of international attention.
This will be followed at 7 p.m. by Min (2003), a feature film by Ho Yuhang. Min tells the story of Yasmin, a young teacher in search of her birth mother.
On Saturday, the offerings begin at 3 p.m. with director Namron's Gedebe (2003), an adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar set in the underground music community. At 4:30 p.m., TUK will present Room to Let (2002) by James Lee, a film that has been featured in many respected film festivals around the world, such as the Festival du Film Asiattique de Deauville and the Montreal World Film Festival. This film tells of the impact of a mysterious incident at a boarding house.
At 7 p.m., a beautiful love story of two aging people is told in director Yasmin Ahmad's Rabun (2003).
On Sunday at 4:30 p.m., 6horts (2002), a collection of provocative, experimental video essays by Amir Muhammad, will set the mood for the sure to be mind-expanding discussion with this intrepid explorer of cinematic possibilities at 5:30 p.m.
The discussion will be followed at 7 p.m. by Muhammad's full- length semi-documentary The Big Durian (2003), a bitingly satirical, multilingual film that brings issues as sensitive as race, religion, government harassment, the judiciary and the media to focus on the big screen.