INTERVIEW | Man On The Run is a documentary that uncovers the shocking true story of the 1MDB scandal that jeopardised Malaysia’s hope for financial stability.
The main focus of this documentary is Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, an international man of mystery and would-be playboy who is now a fugitive.
Purportedly teaming up with then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, Low is alleged to have orchestrated a scheme to exploit 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund established in 2009 intended to benefit the people of Malaysia.
In 2015, journalist Clare Rewcastle-Brown (Sarawak Report) received leaked financial documents, setting off a global investigation that uncovered a staggering amount of money being channelled into international bank accounts, seemingly all in support of Low’s extravagant lifestyle.
This includes the acquisition of lavish properties, a private jet, a yacht, excessive A-list celebrity parties, and even the financing of the Hollywood blockbuster film The Wolf of Wall Street.
Man On The Run director and executive producer Cassius Michael Kim gained unprecedented access to key individuals in the saga, giving viewers gripping first-person accounts and unveiling the extensive repercussions of one of the most colossal financial scandals in history.
Kim is an established director, producer, and writer who helped create the CNN series The Wonder List with Bill Weir.
He also produced and filmed Stockton On My Mind, in collaboration with Marc Levin’s Blowback Productions and HBO Documentary Films, about Mayor Michael Tubbs Jr and the city of Stockton, California.
A director’s dream
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Kim said, “What I found truly intriguing about this story is how little it is known in America.
“Despite being covered in some of the biggest newspapers in the country and featured in a best-selling book, embroiling people in some of the most high-profile sectors in the world (Hollywood, Wall Street, the Middle East, etc.), most people in America have no idea what the 1MBD saga represents,” he said.
“On top of that, even though dozens, if not hundreds, of people benefited from the 1MDB scandal and aided and enabled Low and his co-conspirators, very few people have been held accountable.
“For a journalist and documentary filmmaker, it’s a dream of a confluence of circumstances,” he added.
The first set of interviews for Man On The Run began in the summer of 2021 and production began in earnest in the spring of 2022.
Post-production wrapped in spring of 2023, upon which a final cut was ready to be screened.
The documentary features journalists Rewcastle Brown, The Edge CEO Ho Kay Tat, and Bradley Hope; whistleblower Xavier Justo; as well as politicians such as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, and former MP Tony Pua; and former attorney-general Tommy Thomas.
Kim and his crew even interviewed former prime minister Najib in Kuala Lumpur on the first day of Ramadan in 2022.
“We reached out to his team a few months prior and negotiations regarding the interview continued until the days leading up to the actual sit-down.
“While I believe Najib’s camp expected certain concessions or coordination regarding the actual interview itself, all we could promise was an objective representation of his perspective in telling the story of 1MDB while abiding by journalistic ethics and guidelines.
“Ultimately, they agreed to work with us under these conditions,” Kim explained.
Prior to Najib’s defeat in GE14, most local media did not dare touch the 1MDB scandal, but, in trying to control the narrative, the government of that time only made matters worse for themselves.
“It’s often said that the cover-up is worse than the crime. With 1MDB, the two went hand-in-hand.
“All the credit needs to be given to the journalists, law enforcement officials, and politicians who worked at great risk to themselves to uncover the true depth of this scandal,” Kim said.
He also mentioned that the scope of the crime was so immense that it would have been near impossible to keep hidden, even with a coordinated attempt by the government to shut down investigations and free press.
“But ultimately, the success in uncovering this affair belongs solely to those who endeavoured to do so during those difficult days,” he added.
The tip of the iceberg
Najib’s ongoing court cases keep exposing new things. When asked if he thought that what has been discovered so far is only the tip of the iceberg, Kim said, “A financial scandal of this scale cannot ever be fully documented. Whatever we know now and is documented is most likely a fraction of what really happened.”
Low comes across as a party guy who spends money lavishly. When asked if he found anything surprising about this fugitive, Kim replied, “What truly surprised me was the apparent lack of long-term planning by Low and his co-conspirators during the perpetuation of the 1MDB scam.
“There was no effort to make this a sustainable fraud; rather, all the money that came into the coffers was almost immediately stolen and spent,” he claimed.
“With even minimal effort, Low and his cronies could have papered over some of the missing funds with new funds to keep the scam going but never did so. It is almost nihilism in the way the fraud was conducted, which was difficult to understand.”
There have been books and other documentaries on 1MDB and Low. However, Kim stressed that Man On The Run is a creation of the visual medium; it differs from written content in that it needs to utilise the emotional space that visuals can elicit in an audience.
“It’s not necessarily the place to examine minute details or the intricacies of financial fraud. Regarding other documentaries on the subject, I believe that nothing has yet quite fully captured the vast scope of the scandal nor the immense effort of the people who uncovered it.
“I wanted to make sure that the focus of Man On The Run lay with the people of the story: the co-conspirators, the ones who uncovered and investigated the fraud, as well as the people of Malaysia who ultimately bear the burden of the missing funds.
“If we could penetrate below the surface of what a sovereign wealth fund is, or is supposed to be, and put the focus on the people of the story, I hoped to create an emotional resonance for the audience that would allow them to fully understand and feel what the 1MDB scandal represents and the consequences thereof,” Kim elaborated.
The producers are currently in negotiations to find a long-term home for this film. It is difficult for Kim to say if there will be a second part to Man On The Run.
“Perhaps a sit-down interview with Low could spur movement on such a project,” he said.
When asked what he hopes Malaysians will take away with them when they watch this documentary, Kim shares, “My experience while filming this documentary in Malaysia was that many Malaysians themselves do not know the scope of the 1MDB story and how it affects them.
“That’s what happens when people need to expend so much effort in surviving the day-to-day; they lack the bandwidth to fully learn and digest the events of the day that affect them, because of the machinations of those who would steal and exploit the common good.
“I hope the people of Malaysia understand what’s been done to their country, in their name, and take inspiration to endeavour for a better future for themselves, despite difficult circumstances,” Kim said.
“I also hope that they realise they have not been forgotten in the telling of this tale, and that people exist who care about the cost they bear and their efforts to make a better society for themselves,” he added.
Man On The Run will be screened at selected GSC cinemas starting Oct 19. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.