Malaysian filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu says she was ‘terrified’ about speaking out to disown a censored version of her feature Tiger Stripes that was released in her home country.
Censors cut key scenes from Tiger Stripes, which won the Grand Prize in Critics’ Week at Cannes and is Malaysia’s Oscar entry. It prompted Eu to release a public statement in October against the cuts.
Speaking to Screen about her decision to speak out, Eu said: “I told myself that I had to stand up for my work. The whole point of why I made the film was removed. I didn’t want audience goers who are paying good money to see a film that I felt was not my film.
The fantasy title follows an 11-year-old girl who discovers a terrifying secret about her body, and learns to embrace herself when ostracised by school friends.
Eu is at Red Sea this week for Tiger Stripes’ MENA premiere in Competition where the film is playing in full, without cuts.
“If Saudi Arabia isn’t going to cut it, then it’s not to do with sensitivities that maybe we expect,” said Eu “It shows what censorship really means. In Southeast Asia it’s to pander to or to boost whomever is in power or what their agenda is. It’s not really about the protection of the people.”
Despite speaking out about the censorship, Eu has not received any pushback from Malaysian authorities. “I think they are trying to just keep quiet and not do anything about it and let it die down.”
Eu said she is soon to focus on her next film project, a 1930s period drama set in colonial Malaya before the Second World War. “This focuses again on a female character, on the female body, but this time dealing with themes of motherhood and postpartum psychosis within that time. It will all be set in the house and be very gothic with lots of blood and will be darker for sure than Tiger Stripes.”
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