"Motif", "Malu" among movies representing Malaysia at Jakarta, Laos film festivals
23 Nov – Movies starring actress Sharifah Amani and helmed by director Edmund Yeo are pretty much staples at film festivals, representing Malaysia not just locally but also regionally and internationally.
Sharifah Amani's "Motif", in which she plays a police officer, and Edmund Yeo's "Malu", which tells the tale of two sisters and is a Malaysian-Japanese co-production, are among the titles that have been selected for two upcoming film festivals.
"Malu" will be screened first, as per FINAS' Facebook post, at the 15th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) that's taking place this week from 25 to 29 November in Jogjakarta, Indonesia.
The Muzammer Rahman-directed "Prebet Sapu" and Nova Goh's documentary "The Love of Tapang Tree" are also part of the festival's Official Selection.
As for short films, there are six in total from Malaysia that will be shown at JAFF, which are James Lee's "See You Next Century", Gwai Lou's "The Girls are Alright", Anwar Johari's "Burung-Burung", Mickey Lai Loke Yee's "The Cloud Is Still There", Chan Teik Quan's "Setting Moon" and June Wong, Shaiful Yahya and Syaz Zainal's "Peon".
Meanwhile, "Motif" will be part of Laos' 10th Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF) that will be streamed online for free from 4 to 10 December 2020.
Aside from "Motif", the Haran Kaveri and Shobaan-directed "Metro Maalai" is also picked as an Official Selection at LPFF.
Both movies have represented Malaysia at other film festivals. "Motif", helmed by Nadiah Hamzah, was screened last year at the 7th Barcelona Asian Film Festival, the 5th Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival and the 21st Udine Far East Film Festival.
The Satish Kumar and Punitah Shanmugam-starring"Metro Maalai", which is also available for streaming on Amazon Prime, was awarded Best Social Awareness Tamil – Diaspora at the11th Norway Tamil Film Festival.
