Sunday, July 08, 2007

Moving along...

I will no longer be updating this blog, even though I will keep it for sentimental reasons!

I will instead be updating Writing by Amir regularly, which will include also news of the two documentaries that have been chronicled right here.

Ayuh!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Cineaste


An article on my movies is published in the Summer 2007 issue of the American magazine Cineaste , which includes an interview. I haven't read it myself!

Monday, April 23, 2007

Singapore cinema release

Spread da word! Apa Khabar Orang Kampung (under its English title Village People Radio Show) will begin screening at Cathay Picturehouse, Singapore, from 10 May.

It has been passed by the censors without cuts but rated NC16 (content not suitable for children below 16).

The screening at the Singapore International Film Festival last Saturday was sold out. What's great is that some Malaysians travelled from JB and Malacca just to catch it.

This is a review that appeared when it premiered in Berlin:






VILLAGE PEOPLE RADIO SHOW
(Apa Khabar Orang Kampung)


Malaysia/2007/72 min

Director/screenplay: Amir Muhammad
Production company: Da Huang Pictures
International sales: Red Films
Producer: Tan Chui Mui
Executive Producer: James Lee
Cinematography: Albert Hue
Editor: Akashdeep Singh

Screen International Daily
14 February 2007

Reviewed by Dan Fainaru
at the Berlin Film Festival

A sequel of sorts to Amir Muhammad’s The Last Communist, which toured the festival circuit, Village People Radio Show is a laid-back documentary shot in Southern Thailand that delivers more than enough on the Malayan Communist Party and its members in recent years.

Whether it will manage to draw the attention of the general media outside its own territory remains to be seen. It is still not certain whether the Kuala Lumpur censors will clear it for screening in Malaysia or decide, as they did with The Last Communist, to ban it a fortnight before its planned release.

The communists in Malaysia have always had it tough. During the last century, the country was run first by the British, then occupied by the Japanese, then the British returned before the country’s independence in 1957.

The predominately ethnic-Chinese party was accused of being atheist in a predominately Muslim society, as well as working with foreign forces, and was eventually banned. With active financial support from China, it pursued its struggle against the government until 1989, when a peace treaty of sorts was signed.

Many of the guerrilla fighters long ago moved their families across the border into Thailand and continue to live there peacefully. It is here that Muhammad found a handful of Malay communist party survivors last year – one of them, Pak Kassim, died three weeks after the shoot aged 86.

Muhammad is an unusual documentary film-maker who is notorious for interrupting his previous work with specially commissioned songs or even refraining from showing his subjects on screen.

This time he uses a slightly more traditional approach but nevertheless disrupts time and again the flow of testimonies with excerpts from a Thai soap opera inspired by Shahespeare’s A Winter’s Tale.

The technique wakes up the proceedings to a certain degree because the interviews, while dealing with serious matters, unfold in a relaxed way, implying its subjects are now not troubled by what happened.

The paradise landscape in which they now live, doted on repeatedly by Muhammad’s camera, suggests the former fighters are at peace with themselves. A Winter’s Tale may appear to associate with their lives, but ‘all’s well that ends well’ is perhaps a better reflection.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Appeal denied. The ban is final.

Got this fax today (click to enlarge!):


I truly appreciate the Visit Malaysia 2007 logo at the top right.

I am disappointed, of course. But at least it will show in Singapore next month, and it has already been confirmed for 9 other festivals.

And, most importantly, I have started working on the next one.

A wise person once said, "Rezeki ada di mana-mana..."

Amen!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Singapore premiere

Village People Radio Show will screen in the 20th Singapore International Film Festival.

Date: 21 April (Saturday). 9:15pm
Place: National History Museum
Ticket: S$8.40

My interview with the Singapore Straits Times last week has been filed here.

Jom!

Monday, February 26, 2007

My appeal letter, faxed today

Kepada:
Encik Mansor Embong
Setiausaha
Bahagian Kawalan Filem
Unit Penapisan Filem
Kementerian Dalam Negeri
Fax: 03 8889 1685

Daripada:
Amir Muhammad
Da Huang Pictures Sdn Bhd

Rujukan Tuan: 1408160001

26 Febuari 2007.


Tuan,

14 DALIL MENGAPA ‘APA KHABAR ORANG KAMPUNG’ TIDAK LAYAK DIHARAMKAN.

Saya merujuk kepada surat pihak tuan bertarikh 12 Febuari. Saya telah membaca 7 sebab untuk pengharaman filem dokumentari saya. Di sini saya ingin membuat rayuan supaya pengharaman tersebut ditarik balik. Dalil-dalil saya ialah:

1. Sebab-sebab pengharaman langsung tidak menyentuh aspek keselamatan negara sebaliknya interpretasi sejarah (dalam hanya beberapa dialog) yang bercanggah dengan versi rasmi. Saya kira hal interprerasi masih tidak merbahaya dan tidak patut menerima pengharaman, memadai dengan amaran atau potongan. Sejarah yang beku ialah sejarah yang sudah mati. Contohnya lihat saja perbezaan interpretasi mengenai Hang Tuah dan Hang Jebat dalam 50 tahun kebelakangan ini.

2. Sebab pengharaman yang terakhir ialah filem ini tidak sesuai untuk ‘masyarakat umum.’ Dengan ini saya meminta slot ‘tayangan terhad’, tertakluk kepada syarat-syarat tertentu. Contohnya filem The Passion of the Christ. Malaysia dengan bijak menghadkan filem ini kepada penonton Kristian, dan tanpa iklan. Diharap langkah bijak sebegini dapat diambil untuk filem ini juga.

3. Merujuk kepada sebab-sebab pengharaman, jelas terdapat kekeliruan yang amat dasar di antara “apa yang dikatakan oleh filem ini” dengan “apa yang dikatakan oleh sebahagian orang yang diwawancara dalam filem ini.” Dokumentari Apa Khabar Orang Kampung mengambil sikap yang objektif, tanpa menggunakan suara latar. Ia sekadar merakam satu tempat yang tak pernah dilihat oleh masyarakat tempatan yang lain. Tugas saya sebagai pengarah ialah merakam. Penonton dianggap sudah cukup bijak untuk mendengar apa yang diucapkan tanpa melatah atau mengamok; dan membuat tafsiran sendiri. Samalah seperti dialog filem fiksyen Puaka Tebing Biru di mana Nasha Aziz berkata ‘Mak tak percaya kat Tuhan ke?’ Ini hanyalah pandangan watak itu dan bukan pandangan filem itu secara keseluruhan.

4. Dokumentari ini patut diberi klasifikasi 18PA untuk unsur politiknya. Apabila warga Malaysia cukup umur 18 tahun, mereka telahpun melalui sistem sekolah rendah dan menengah yang cukup cemerlang dan sudah tahu, malah telah hafal, versi sejarah yang rasmi. Justeru itu, menonton dokumentari Apa Khabar Orang Kampung tidak akan memudaratkan mereka.

5. Filem ini boleh sahaja dimulakan oleh perkataan yang tertera di skrin, contohnya “Amaran Oleh Kerajaan Malaysia: Fahaman Komunisme Dilarang Dan Anda Ditegah Daripada Meniru Ideologi Merbahaya Ini!’ Ayat ini boleh terbit dalam saiz font yang amat besar. Ayat ini juga boleh berkelip-kelip seperti lampu neon supaya lebih jelas. Kalau tak cukup satu tanda seru boleh guna lima atau sepuluh.

6. Dokumentari ini mungkin patut diluluskan untuk orang yang telah menonton rancangan yang mendakyah anti-komunis seperti ‘Jungle Green Khaki Brown.’ Setelah disogok rancangan sebegini (yang menggunakan aksi lasak dan muzik yang menghiburkan), tidak mungkin seorang penonton itu akan terpengaruh oleh dialog orang-orang tua dalam Apa Khabar Orang Kampung.

7. Dokumentari ini mendapat tayangan perdana dunia di Festival Filem Antarabangsa Berlin, tidak jauh daripada runtuhan Tembok Berlin. Lebih 1,000 orang menontonnya. Biarpun penduduk Berlin pernah mengalami trauma akibat pertembungan Barat dengan komunisme, tidak ada penonton yang protes, pengsan atau mengamok. Kita boleh sahaja anggap Jerman sebagai negara maju, tapi bukankah Malaysia juga bercita-cita untuk menjadi negara maju dalam masa hanya 13 tahun lagi?

8. Pengharaman filem ini tampaknya bercanggah dengan beberapa prinsip yang terkandung dalam Wawasan 2020 yang menjadi pegangan kita, seperti “berjiwa bebas”, “masyarakat demokratik yang matang”, “progresif” serta “masyarakat liberal dan bertolak ansur.”

9. Filem ini besar kemungkinan akan lulus untuk tayangan di Singapura seperti Lelaki Komunis Terakhir tahun lepas. Tidakkah kita berasa sedikit kaget dan jengkel bahawa rakyat Singapura (yang berkongsi sejarah Darurat dengan kita) sudah dianggap cukup matang sedangkan kita belum?

10. Filem ini boleh juga ditayang kepada mereka yang telah membuat ikrar ‘Akujanji’ sebelum dan usai menontonnya. Ikrar ‘Akujanji’ ini boleh disamakan dengan proses yang harus dilalui oleh mahasiswa, pensyarah dan kakitangan kerajaan. Tapi kali ini mereka harus ‘berjanji’ untuk tidak sekali-kali amalkan fahaman komunisme, biarpun dalam mimpi.

11. Dalam 10 tahun kebelakangan ini, lebih ramai rakyat Malaysia dimangsai keganasan dan kerakusan Mat Rempit berbanding komunis. Namum sudah 3 filem mengenai Mat Rempit dibenarkan untuk tayangan luas di seluruh negara. Tidak adakah sentimen menghormati mangsa mereka?

12. Perang Dingin sudah berakhir pada tahun 1989 dan Malaysia sekarang menjalin hubungan yang amat baik dengan negara-negara China dan Cuba. Jadi kenapakah topik komunisme itu dianggap masih tabu?

13. Malaysia tahun ini meraikan 50 tahun sebagai negara demokrasi. Dalam satu demokrasi, kepelbagaian pendapat patut dibenar malah diraikan. Jika tidak, tidak ada bezanya dengan negara tanpa demokrasi, seperti yang pernah kita lihat di beberapa negara komunis dan teokratik.

14. Puluhan rencana telah ditulis dalam akhbar tempatan apabila Lelaki Komunis Terakhir diharamkan tahun lalu. Kita boleh saja anggap puluhan rencana ini mewakili satu minoriti yang bersedia untuk menontonnya, dan dokumentari ini juga. Justeru itu tayangan harus dibenarkan untuk minoriti ini. Jika ada yang tidak mahu menonton, mereka ada pilihan untuk tonton filem lain seperti Remp-It 2 (yang besar kemungkinan akan lulus).

Sekian. Majulah filem untuk negara.

Yang Benar,


AMIR MUHAMMAD
Pengarah Apa Khabar Orang Kampung

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Banned

Apa Khabar Orang Kampung (known overseas as Village People Radio Show) has been banned by the Malaysian censorship board.

It was sent to the board on 18 January and the decision was made on 12 February but I only got the news today due to the Chinese New Year holidays.

7 reasons were given for the ban. They are:

1. The theme of this film seems to portray the crusade of the United Communist Front in Peninsular Malaya back then as a noble one which should be acknowledged. Therefore the film's message sides with these people especially the ethnic Malay communists.

2. This film also shows that the Malaysian government is unfair in failing to acknowledge their crusade.

3. This film shows the opinions and stories only of the communists about their stance and their purpose for fighting so that society will sympathise with and acknowledge their contributions.

4. Criticisms against the Malaysian Government are blatantly shown in this film for offering unacceptable rehabilitation terms as opposed to the Thai government which was willing to provide land, houses and basic amenities to support them after they stopped being communists. Aside from criticising the government, the monarchy and the Malays are also insulted.

5. This film tries to belittle Tunku Abdul Rahman, the former Malaysian Prime Minister, as the person responsible for the failure of the Baling Talks but the true fact is that the Communists did not agree to lay down their arms.

6. The former communist members likened their crusade to the crusade of Malay anti-British warriors such as Dato' Bahaman, Mat Kilau, Tok Gajah, Dato' Maharaja Lela, Tok Janggut and others. This is a distortion of historical facts.

7. This film is not suitable for public viewing because of its correct (sic) facts and it also touches on the sensitivities and bitter memories of security forces and members of the public who had been victims of communist violence.

(I think in the 7th reason, what they mean is 'incorrect' rather than 'correct.' How nice of me to correct their typos!)

I have until 10 March to appeal the decision. I will send the appeal letter sometime next week.