'Abang Adik' tells the story of two undocumented brothers whose quest to obtain citizenship in Malaysia is fraught with challenges. Photo: Handout
The film Abang Adik has been selected to represent Malaysia in the International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards next March.
In a statement, the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) said the debut film by director Jin Ong was chosen following several evaluation rounds by the Finas Film Selection Committee, which consists of professionals from the film industry and ensures compliance with Academy Award submission requirements.
The film has won 19 international awards, proving that Malaysian films can compete and shine on the global stage.
Some of the film's achievements include winning Best Film Award at the 22nd Uncaged Competition at the New York Asian Film Festival, and becoming the first South-East Asian film to sweep the three top prizes at Italy’s Far East Film Festival – Golden Mulberry, Black Dragon Critics Award, and White Mulberry Award for Best Feature Film.
In addition, Abang Adik was also recognised at the 37th Fribourg International Film Festival in Switzerland and the First Film Festival in China.
Produced by More Entertainments, the film stars Jack Tan and Wu Kang-ren, who both won awards at the 2024 Malaysia Global Golden Awards (MGGA), with Tan winning Best Supporting Actor and Wu winning Best Actor.
Wu also claimed the Best Actor gong at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards and Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.
Finas noted that the film created a phenomenon in 2023, grossing RM14.6mil in Taiwan and RM1.55mil in Hong Kong, making it the first Malaysian film to set a box office record.
In Malaysia, Abang Adik grossed RM5.7mil during its release in December last year.
Abang Adik tells the story of Abang (Wu), who is deaf and mute and Adik (Tan), who are two orphans living without documents in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. – Bernama
