Ten years ago, after the dismissal and the arrest of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the first protest movement emerged in Malaysia. Amid Muhammad visits the locations where people demonstrated and investigates what has changed since. Cannot be screened in Malaysian cinemas.
The title of this documentary, banned in its home country, refers to the unhealthy way in which Malaysians look at their (currently ruling) politicians. Amid Muhammad goes back to 20 September 1998, the birth of the first protest movement in his country. The ‘Reformasi’ started after the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who then organised a demonstration and demanded that the prime minister resign. This resulted in his arrest; he had allegedly been guilty of corruption and (very taboo) homosexual acts. In chapters, preceded by often ironic inter-titles with historic information, Muhammad looks back on the last 10 years. Just as in his previous films, he does not use archival footage, but makes interviews at locations that were important then – not with those directly involved, but with ordinary people who live there and work there. In Tamil, the language of the smallest ethnic minority, he goes looking for what has changed since. —Rotterdam Film Festival
Amir Muhammad is a writer and independent filmmaker based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was born on December 5, 1972 in Kuala Lumpur and was educated at the University of East Anglia. He has been writing for Malaysian print media since the age of 14, notably the New Straits Times.
In 2000, he wrote and directed Malaysia’s first DV feature. Some of his works have also been featured in a number of international film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. Two of his films, Apa Khabar Orang Kampung and The Last Communist have been banned in Malaysia. A full retrospective of his work was screened at the 2008 Pesaro Film Festival, Italy. He is a partner at Da Huang Pictures.
He started publishing non-fiction books in 2007 under his company Matahari Books and is taking a break from film-making. —Wikipedia
Kill them with kindness—a rare approach and quality for political cinema, usually so bristling and over-eager. Amir Muhammad’s Malaysian
