Amanda Nell Eu has made history as the first Malaysian and Southeast Asian director to win the €10,000 (RM49,622) Grand Prize award at Cannes Critics Week, a parallel section of the prestigious festival.
“Tiger Stripes” is Nell Eu’s debut film. It received a world premiere at the festival last week to rousing and critical acclaim.
French film director and critics week jury president, Audrey Diwan described the film as “irreverent” and “uncompromising”.
Other jury members include cinematographer Rui Pocas, International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) juror Meenakshi Shedde, German actor Franz Rogowski and the director of programming at Sundance Film Festival, Kim Yutani.
“This is a film that expresses the internal becoming external, and vice versa, and the transformation from girl to woman which leads to fear and alienation both within the individual and society.
“This film bursts through the traditional coming-of-age story with exuberant creativity, playful homage and pure animal energy,” Yutani explained onstage about the jury’s selection prior to announcing the winning title.
‘Embracing our inner tiger’
Nell Eu was at a loss for words to have won the award. In her speech, she thanked the festival, jury members, the lead actress of her Tiger Stripes, and the rest of her crew.
“This film is really for all of us to embrace our inner tiger, our inner monster and roar really loudly and be proud of who we are,” Eu concluded. She was joined onstage by producer Foo Fei Ling.
“Tiger Stripes” centres on 12-year-old Zaffan (played by Zafreen Zairizal) as she struggles to understand her body experiencing puberty.
Provoked by her community, she soon discovers that embracing her true self is the only answer to her freedom.
The film is a co-production between eight territories including Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia and Qatar.
A theatrical release date has yet to be revealed but it is most likely the film continues the international festival circuit before it reaches Malaysian audiences.
International sales will be handled by Films Boutique while distributor Jour2Fete has secured the rights for release in France.
Kalash Nanda Kumar is an International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) critic and an international voter for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). He is reporting from Cannes Film Festival. - Mkini
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