Singapore film director Edmund Yeo delivers a speech after recieving the Best Director award for his movie Aqerat (We the Dead) during the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) closing ceremony in Tokyo on November 3, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Toshifumi KITAMURA
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian director Edmund Yeo (pic) wanted to provoke thought about the dilemma of the Rohingya with his movie Aqerat, which won Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).
“I just wanted to ask questions with this film. The Rohingya plight is still happening. I don’t have answers, I’m just a filmmaker.
“But all I wish is for the killing to stop. I wish that in this crazy world, we can finally find a measure of peace,” Yeo said in his acceptance speech.
The 33-year-old became the first Malaysian filmmaker to win an award at TIFF for his work in Aqerat, which tells of a desperate woman who gets involved in a human trafficking ring.
The film’s leading actress Daphne Low was also announced as one of four winners of the new Tokyo Gemstone Award, which honours up-and-coming actors and actresses.
Yeo and Low were honoured with the awards during the closing of the TIFF held in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, yesterday.
In a WhatsApp message to The Star, Yeo said he was grateful for his win and dedicated it to his Aqerat team.
While the movie does not have a Malaysian release date yet, Yeo is hoping to get it into cinemas next year.
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