‘Puteri’ makes impact at Venice film fest

BY ZIEMAN

PETALING JAYA: Puteri Gunung Ledang, which opened on National Day, grossed more than RM1.2mil in just six days – a record for a local movie. 

Executive producer Datuk Shazally Ramli said the RM20mil epic movie had also attracted the attention of foreign film distributors and was expected to be screened in Europe. 

Having created an impact at the recent Venice International Film Festival, he said the movie would be promoted next at the Toronto Film Festival to attract global interest. 

”We were caught by surprise at the overwhelming response by all those who came to the (Venice) festival. Malaysia was literally in the limelight throughout the gala night. 

“It was almost like a fiesta with the presentation of a Taming Sari keris to the Mayor of Venice, a Puteri Gunung Ledang performance and a cultural show by the Istana Budaya troupe. 

“This was followed by the festival’s Great Spectacular Midnight Films showcase,” said Shazally from Venice. 

More than 2,000 delegates around the world attended the event and at least 5,000 films, including Hollywood productions were submitted for the festival.  

Only 200 were picked to be screened.  

Puteri Gunung Ledang was the only film selected from South-east Asia.  

The other two Asian countries with entries in the festival were South Korea and Japan. 

“A film critic told me the movie fared better outside Malaysia because foreigners were not aware of the local mythology of Puteri Gunung Ledang.  

“Malaysians grew up with it and almost everyone knows or has heard about the story. So, we tend to be more critical with our own movies,” said Shazally. 

The 35-strong Malaysian entourage that attended the Venice Film Festival included the Regent of Perlis Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Syed Jamalullail, Raja Puan Perlis Tuanku Lailatul Shahreen Akashah, Higher Education Ministry’s special envoy Datuk Seri Mohd Effendi Norwawi, film director Saw Teong Hin, lead actress Tiara Jacquelina and actor Adlin Aman Ramli.