Malaysian movies: From local gems to international acclaim

International showcase: Oasis of Now (still shown below) by Malaysian director Chia Chee Sum had its European première at the Berlinale recently. How well will it do? — Berlin Film Festival

MALAYSIAN movies again made their mark in film festivals across the world last year.

Among them were Tiger Stripes, Abang Adik, Rain Town and Snow In Midsummer.

Filmmakers say the spotlight on Malaysian films last year is a result of the right timing, their networking, and a culmination of many years of efforts.

When the Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020, the entire filmmaking industry screeched to a halt due to work and movement restrictions.

Hence, when the restrictions were lifted, many movies which had time to “gestate” during the pandemic ended up being released around the same time.

“Some titles that took longer to gestate due to the pandemic such as Tiger Stripes, Abang Adik and Snow In Midsummer were completed quite close together,” says independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad.

Rain Town director Tunku Mona Riza concurs, saying it was the right timing that all these films came out around the same time.

“They’ve done their groundwork. It just so happens last year is when all these films were released.”

Tiger Stripes ended up winning the coveted Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Abang Adik garnered numerous awards at, among others, the New York Asian Film Festival and Italy’s Far East Film Festival, while Snow In Midsummer earned nine Golden Horse Award nominations in Taiwan and was the official selection for the Giornate degli Autori International Competition at last year’s Venice Film Festival.

To get their films into such international film festivals, Tunku Mona says building up one’s experience as well as a good network of contacts within the industry can play a huge role in boosting a film’s chances.

She relates her experience with Rain Town, which was screened at many international film festivals, such as the Silk Road Film Festival, the Golden Rooster Film Festival and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival, before it finally arrived on the shores of Malaysia.

“It’s also through who you know and that’s who you sell your screeners to, and because of the relationship you have built over the years, therefore your film is also selected to be in the film festivals.

“Someone took notice of Rain Town and then I spoke to this person who is not even based in China, and they said, ‘Mona, I’m going to recommend you to someone’ and when Rain Town was recommended to someone in China, I realised I had met this person a year ago and then we connected.

“So that’s how I got [Rain Town] to the Golden Rooster festival.”

But this crop of Malaysian films doing well in international film festivals is not the first of its kind, says filmmaker Al Jafree Md Yusop

Malaysian filmmakers have been getting some attention in international film festivals quite a few times, like with the work of the late Yasmin Ahmad, he says.

“I just came back from the Berlin Film Festival, which is one of the biggest film festivals in the world and there was one Malaysian film showcased which had its European première there, so our films are getting more and more attention.”