Malaysian screenwriter’s film nominated for Oscar

 

A film co-penned by Malaysian screenwriter Adele Lim has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Disney Animation Studios’ ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ is one of the five nominees in the “Animated Feature Film'' category.

It is up against ‘Encanto’, ‘Flee’, ‘Luca’ and ‘The Mitchells vs The Machines’.

The 2022 Academy Award winners are set to be announced on March 27.

Read the Malaysianskini profile piece of Lim from 2020 here.

While her name was not listed on the Academy Award website for the nomination, Lim is credited for writing the screenplay for ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ along with Vietnamese American Qui Nguyen.

Malaysian D’Lun Wong also worked as a crowd artist for the film. He reportedly designed a scene to resemble the classic Malaysian night market or pasar malam.

The 2021 animated feature has made waves for its strong female lead character - Raya - and its authentic tributes to Southeast Asian culture.

Among the actors who voiced characters in the film were Kelly Marie Tran, Gemma Chan and Awkwafina.

Chan and Awkwafina both starred in the blockbuster ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, for which Lim also wrote the screenplay.

The California-based Petaling Jaya native’s previous screenwriting works include television shows ‘One Tree Hill’, ‘Private Practice’ and ‘Xena: The Warrior Princess’.

Back in 2019, Lim made headlines for walking away from the sequel of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ in protest of a gender pay gap.

She was reportedly offered a mere one-eighth of what her male co-screenwriter Peter Chiarelli was offered. - Mkini