The hope of the Malaysian Oscar is an urban legend | Video Stories

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – With a full body of goods and a dream full of dreams, Aman drives a hit-and-run car he received from his deceased father from a Malaysian forest town to the state capital Kuala Lumpur.

Being blind, a young Malay man does not have a driver’s license but his car is the only one he owns, so he earns a living by working illegally as a driver in his foreign assignment. Led by Bella – a Chinese escort who meets him by car at night – Aman has recently learned that in a big city, dreams are as fragile as glass, and innocence and sin are two faces of the same coin.

Shocked differently, full of black and white to reflect the vision of Aman, Muzzamer’s first film Rahman Prebet Sapu (2020), known worldwide as Hail Driver, seems unlikely to represent the many Muslims and victims of Southeast Asia. country at the Academy Awards next year.

“When I wrote Prebet Sapu’s essays, I knew that they were probably enlightened because of the electoral and political content. [in Kuala Lumpur]”Muzzamer told Al Jazeera, considering the changes that have taken place since Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation 22 years later as prime minister in 2003.

“I grew up in the Hittite era, so I taught myself to be ready. However, this is a very important issue in my film, and it concerns the relationship of people in Kuala Lumpur. “

Despite Muzzamer’s concerns, after turning heads at the Far East Film Festival in Italy, the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, and the Spanish Film Festival in Spain, Prebet Sapu was nominated in early November by the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia ( FINAS) as the next world. submission to the Oscars’ Best International Film category.

“We had two strong responses this year, the other being the Barbarian Invasion (2021) author Tan Chui Mui, and we had to use the voting method to select the winner,” said Mohamad Haris Ku Sulong, director board at FINAS. .

“The group chose Prebet Sapu because it is very close to real life and it clearly shows what we, as Malaysians, are.”

‘Be of Good Courage’

The award reflects the recent commitment of FINAS to support young filmmakers regardless of race and to present films at the Academy Awards each year. Oscar’s presentation last year was a huge hit in the woods, Roh (2020), the first film written by Malaysian director Emir Ezwan.

Prebet Sapu is the seventh film that Malaysia has provided to the Oscars since 2004.

Instead of following the ideas of the one-language office box office that only enjoys a third of the country’s diversity – Malay, Chinese, and Tamil Indians – Haris told Al Jazeera that regardless of language and race, FINAS seeks to support more complex films. who truly represent the realities of Malaysia and can advance the country’s role in the Southeast Asian film industry.

“I’m trying to push the writing and film crew to present the Oscar next year, and I urge young directors to meet the limits, to be more confident,” Haris said.

In the meantime, Prebet Sapu, which opens in the Malaysian movie theater on Thursday, December 16, is definitely worth it.

The film features a variety of cast starring Amerul Affendi (Aman), Lim Mei Fen (Bella), as well as comedy and Malaysian comedians Bront Palarae and Sharifah Amani – best known for their role as Orked in the popular films Sepet (2005) and Gubra (2006) by Yasmin Ahmad, who focused on the issue of racial tensions between a Malaysian girl and a young Chinese Malaysian girl. The film showcases the modern day of Kuala Lumpur, the strained racial ties, and the unquenchable thirst for development without a hitch.

Using multilingual Chinese-English, Mandarin and Mandarin dialects to better understand Malaysian jigsaw puzzles, Prebet Sapu proudly stands in the shadow of a Malaysian New Wave movie in the 2000s, while filmmakers like Yasmin Ahmad, Amir Muhammad, Tan. Chui Mui, Woo Ming Jin, James Lee, and Ho Yuhang drew Malaysian debates and the different races as he saw them.

“If anyone thinks we are more inclined to criticize politics, or social media, or cinema verité, I have to admit that mainly because we did not have a budget to direct the arts, why we used the real space, and asked participants to bring your own clothes,” Tan told Al Jazeera. reducing the role that these films played in encouraging independent filmmakers to showcase festivals around the world, including Venice and Cannes.

But they have also been rejected and banned from the home, followed by a systematic review that still maintains a well-known art and culture in a country where about 61 percent of the population is Muslim.

Beat around the bushes

Regardless of the progress, the Malaysian film industry remains a difficult place to move.

Since 1936, the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia, a non-profit organization of FINAS, has banned more than 50 local and international films for being too violent or for images that could offend Muslims.

Rapper, singer and director Namewee, who appeared in his film BABI, has moved to Taiwan to enforce his production rights. [Courtesy of Namewee]

Film screening guidelines were released in 2010, allowing for violent and abusive films to be shown on television, sometimes without cutting. But filmmakers still have to deal with extremely difficult issues.

“Race and religion are always two elephants in a room where we pretend we do not see or ask questions,” said Lau Kek Huat, who, along with the favorite Chinese Malaysian filmmakers. Name and Chong Ket Aun, say they moved to Taiwan to talk openly about their home in Malaysia.

“There was a code called VHSC – violence, horror, sex, culture – which is known to make us look at movies,” said Amir Muhammad, a fictional and prolific film director such as The Big Durian. 2003), The Last Communist (2006), and Malaysian Gods (2009).

Since 2018, Amir has been the general manager of Kuala Lumpur-based Horror and Focused Kuman Pictures, released in Malaysia for the first time by Oscar Roh, which is now streaming on Netflix.

“[Censorship] it has been going on for years but it often depends on the government and its priorities, “said Amir.

Amir adds that with the rise of digital marketing platforms such as Netflix and Disney Hotstar, Malaysian filmmakers now have an uninterrupted space to run their business.

The streaming platforms are not monitored in the same way as movie theaters and are protected to some extent by the promise of “no research” the government made when it launched the Multimedia Super Corridor in 1995 to bring Malaysia into the digital age.

“The [censorship] tolerance has also skyrocketed, “Haris of FINAS told Al Jazeera.

Return waves

Although it did not make an Oscar nomination, Tan Chui Mui’s Barbarian Invasion (2020) won the Golden Goblet Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival in early June, adding weight to the proven and resilient cinema in Malaysia.

Respect for women and a love letter promoting independent cinema, the third film Tan brings together many former Malaysian New Wave actors, including the director himself, Pete Teo and director James Lee.

Yu Zhou and Moon Lee (translated by director Tan Chui Mui) return to Kemaman town on the east coast from the Barbarian Invasion. [Courtesy of Da Huang Pictures]

It was also produced by director Woo Ming Jin, for whom The Tiger Factory (2010) was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

After experimenting with many Malay-language productions such as KL Zombi (2013) – which was voted by PG and released after being cut 30 and modified for several lines of discussion – Woo returns to its roots with the upcoming Kamba (2021), a story of revenge for the homeless. he earns money by killing turtle eggs.

“For me, it ‘s about to return to the thrill of filmmaking without the hassle of commercials and restrictions that are often found in well-known, anti-censorship, color-coded, and captivating audiences,” Woo told Al. Jazeera.

Compared to neighboring countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan, whose Woo films are considered to be very different from themes and topics, Malaysia does not have the right to discuss such powerful issues as politics and religion.

“Being a ‘jaguh kampung’ (village hero), this is not a story, but being the best in the world, that is another story,” he said.

Haris of FINAS, who directed and produced commercials, video games and series before becoming a member of FINAS, agrees that making bold films attracts attention.

But he seems to think that Malaysia is ready to release the regime.

Behind the scenes of Prebet Sapu [Courtesy of Muzzamer Rahman]

Instead, they ask filmmakers to shoot two of their own films to ensure that they can be approved to show Malaysian movies.

“Use the strongest brand in the global market,” Haris said. “We [still] they need stories that are about to end because they are the most popular movies in the world. “

In the meantime, Muzzamer is grateful that Prebet Sapu received full approval without being cut, “yet he received a film crew that could be watched by my audience,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Prohibition should block the voice of the filmmaker and determine what is right and wrong based on how the filmmaker views it.”