‘Rise: Ini Kalilah’ a film for Malaysians who made a difference in GE14

Inspiring portrayal: (From left) Tan, Remy, Sangeeta, Mira, O’Dea and Shashi posing for photos after the press conference at Kompleks Studio Merdeka Finas in Ampang.

KUALA LUMPUR: Rise: Ini Kalilah, a film inspired by the events of the 14th Malaysia General Election (GE14), will be released in cinemas next month.

The film is the brainchild of executive producer Fred Chong who said the stories of how Malaysians came together for GE14 was compelling.

“On the days leading up to May 9, there were Malaysians who paid for the transportation cost of others to come home and vote.

“Then you have people bringing back the postal votes for those who couldn’t make it back on time.

“Everyone, in their own way, was doing something to change Malay­sia,” Chong said during a press conference at Kompleks Studio Merdeka Finas here yesterday.

As soon as the election period began, Chong got to work on a script for Rise: Ini Kalilah.

“I want to say, ‘You guys did it’ through this film. The world has to see what Malaysians achieved in GE14,” he said.

Rise: Ini Kalilah focuses on the stories of different individuals during the election period.

Actor Remy Ishak plays a policeman while actress Sangeeta Krish­na­samy takes on the role of a teacher at a school struggling for funding.

Jack Tan stars as a Malaysian working in Singapore who is finding a way to come home to vote.

Mira Filzah plays a student in London who is tasked with bringing postal votes back to Malaysia.

Other cast members include Jenn Chia, Shashi Tharan, Mark O’Dea, Frederick Lee, Sharifah Sakinah and Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan. The RM2mil production began shooting in May with locations around Malaysia, Singapore and Britain.

Rise: Ini Kalilah is directed by Saw Teong Hin, Nik Amir Mustapha of Terbaik Dari Langit fame and Prem Nath.

Saw said taking on the ambitious project with a tight production period was not as daunting as it seems.

“I think to be a director, you need to have a sense of fearlessness ... I still can’t believe that we’re sitting here to talk about this movie,” he said.

Rise: Ini Kalilah will be released on Sept 13 in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebration.