Malay

Quote:
Like that famous saying, Tan Chui Mui speaks softly, but she carries a big stick. Her films are quiet little affairs, but boy, do they pack an emotional wallop. She has a knack for easing you into a situation, and getting you deeply involved with her characters. I liken it to Nabokov, who can say a thousand things in one sentence. Tan can create such emotional push-and-pull between her characters without them saying much. It’s all in the doing, not the uttering. Show, not tell. And she does it beautifully.Read More »

Utama – Every Name In History Is I is a film about the founding of Singapore. In the indigenous Malay tongue, ‘Singa’ means lion, while ‘pore’ is derived from the word ‘pura’, or city. In official accounts of its history, Singapore was founded in 1819 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, as part of the British colonial empire. However, virtually little is known about the other, pre-colonial founder of Singapore, who is believed to have founded Singapore sometime between the 13th and 14th century. Commonly referred to as Sang Nila Utama, regarded as the ‘first’ king of the Malays and said to be heir to a glorious lineage of great kings and immortals, Utama was said to have given Singapore its name after encountering a lion along its shores. This anecdote has often been questioned because lions are not a species indigenous to this area.Read More »

A Malay-mixed pianist and an Indian guitarist are partnered in a talent show competition.Read More »

Zaffan (12) struggles with puberty, discovering a terrifying secret about her physical self. Her failed attempts to conceal the inevitable lead her friends to find out who she really is, and they attack her. As Zaffan is further provoked by her own community, she soon learns that embracing her true self is the only answer to her freedom.Read More »

Ogin is a concubine of a powerful feudal lord (Tayu). The evil woman Ogin tries to gain power by killing all the people who disturb her.Read More »

Proud of his Javanese heritage, Kakang is trying to bring up his children in Malaysia and instill in them his own traditional values and beliefs. Seeing clearly the social inequalities that allow him to be exploited his defiance results in profound consequences for his youngest son, a boy who shares his father’s uncompromising integrity.Read More »

Quote:
Casting aside the humor and striking visuals that made “Woman on Fire Looks for Water” appealing, rising Malaysian helmer Woo Ming Jin jumps full-on into wearying miserablism with “The Tiger Factory.” A predictable tale of a young woman ground down by poverty and exploitation, the pic never lets up in its drive toward nihilism, culminating in her loss of compassion. Lensed in a coldly observational manner (inspired perhaps by Brillante Mendoza), “Tiger” will remain chained to rarefied fests partial to this particular brand of Southeast Asian low-budget despair.Read More »

Synopsis:
The story takes place in Sekinchan, Sabak Bernam in 1993, revolving around the first love of a 10-year-old Orked when a 12-year-old boy, Mukhsin, comes with his elder brother and aunt to spend the school holidays in her village. Around this relatively simple plotline of a blossoming young romance between the film’s two young protagonists, are interweaved scenes of Malaysian village life and the dynamics of different types of families. Most of the family scenes revolve around Orked and her mother (Mak Inom), father (Pak Atan), and the family’s close maid who is almost like a family member (Kak Yam). Read More »

Malaysian horror/suspense thriller with Islamic themes about a woman who is haunted by a vengeful spirit trapped in an antique mirror. The plot centers on Nasrin (Natasha Hudson), whose face has been disfigured in a mysterious car accident.Read More »