Malaysian Feminist Body Horror ‘Tiger Stripes’ to Debut at Cannes
New Age
Islam News Bureau
08
May 20123
• Malaysian Feminist Body Horror ‘Tiger Stripes’ to
Debut at Cannes
• Fifth Iranian Women’s Mural Highlighting the High
Price They Are Willing to Pay for Freedom Unveiled, In Israel
• Saudi Woman Driving Instructor, Rasha Zamzami, Riding
High As Social Media Sensation
• Young Arab Woman Shot Dead Outside Haifa Home, Latest
Victim in Wave of Homicides
• At Least 400 Women Reportedly On Second Week of Hunger
Strike In Notorious Iraqi Jail
• Iran Sports Boss Quits After Women Compete Unveiled:
State Media
• Iran Runners-Up at 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's Asia
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/malaysian-feminist-horror-cannes/d/129729
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Malaysian Feminist Body Horror ‘Tiger Stripes’ to Debut at Cannes
Tiger
Stripes mixes teenage body horror and themes of female empowerment [Courtesy of
Ghost Grrrl Productions]
------
By
Marco Ferrarese
Published
On 7 May 2023
7
May 2023
Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia — For 12-year-old Zaffan (played by Zafreen Zairizal), going
through puberty is literally a beast. When she discovers that her body is
morphing in terrifying ways and her community side-lines her, Zaffan has no
choice but to accept her true self, revealing her beauty, wrath and power to
everyone
Amanda
Nell Eu is reluctant to reveal too much of the plot of Tiger Stripes, but her
debut feature mixes teenage body horror, and themes of female empowerment in a
Southeast Asian setting and will make history this month as the first film
directed by a Malaysian woman to debut at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Tiger
Stripes is the fourth Malaysian film and the first in 13 years, to be invited
to Cannes after Kaki Bakar (The Arsonist, 1995) by U-Wei Saari, Karaoke (2009)
by Chris Chong Chan Fui and The Tiger Factory (2010) by Woo Ming Jin.
It
will compete for the Grand Prix at the 62nd Semaine de la Critique
(International Critics Week), which will run from May 17 to 25 and is the
programme dedicated to discovering first and second-feature filmmakers from
around the world. It is where acclaimed directors like Wong Kar-wai, Guillermo
del Toro, Ken Loach and Gaspar Noé all started.
“I’m
so honoured. It’s what the team and I have been dreaming of. I don’t think
anyone will be ready for it because it’s a real punch in the face,” Nell Eu,
who is a Malaysian of mixed Chinese and British heritage, told Al Jazeera.
“Jokes
aside, I hope Tiger Stripes’ themes and messages will resonate with many people
and they will also enjoy the ride the film takes you on.”
Nell
Eu had the idea for Tiger Stripes at the beginning of 2018 and did much of the
development work over the following two years. “We did a lot of labs and
workshops and then ended up going to international markets as well,” she said.
After
the COVID-19 pandemic halted work on the project for about two years, the crew
finally shot the film in 2022 in the wilds of Selangor state, east of
Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. It stars veteran Malaysian actors Shaheizy Sam
(Polis Evo 3, 2023), June Lojong (Roh, 2019), and Fatimah Abu Bakar (Imaginur,
2022), plus a trio of young and talented first-time actresses – Zafreen, Deena
Ezral and Piqa, who play the three Malay girls from a rural community.
Produced
by Foo Fei Ling for the independent Kuala Lumpur film company Ghost Grrrl Productions
that she co-founded with Nell Eu, Tiger Stripes is a co-production between
Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, France, Germany, the Netherlands and
Qatar.
It
was a decision that stemmed partly from knowing that the Film Censorship Board
of Malaysia can be hard on creative works that touch on the multi-cultural
nation’s most sensitive issues, from ethnicity to religion. Islam is Malaysia’s
official religion and followed by more than half the population.
“As
a filmmaker myself, I totally understand the problems of censorship and I
really tried not to let that hinder me, especially in script writing and making
the film,” said Nell Eu.
“Preserving
the filmmaker’s vision, especially in a debut project, is always my primary
mission as a producer,” said Foo. “Yet, producing a debut is not easy. That’s
why we have co-productions with several other countries, so we can say as much
as we want.”
Feminist
body horrors
Nell
Eu says she is obsessed with horror, feminism and female monsters – all themes
Tiger Stripes share with her two previous short films. Her 2017 debut,
LagiSenangJagaSekandangLembu (It’s Easier to Raise Cattle), premiered at the
Venice International Film Festival and focused on the friendship between two
teenage female outcasts in a remote village.
Her
second short, Vinegar Baths (2018), tells the story of an overworked maternity
ward nurse who is happiest when she roams hospital corridors at night and can
finally eat. It won several festival awards, including Best Picture at the
Scream Asia Horror Shorts competition.
“I’m
a huge fan of body horror. I just find it fascinating,” Nell Eu told Al
Jazeera, citing the genre’s stalwart Canadian director David Cronenberg and
Shinya Tsukamoto, the Japanese director of the visionary Tetsuo: the Iron Man
(1989), among her early influences.
“Creatively,
I try hard to listen to my body more than my thoughts and when I make
decisions, it is my gut feeling, how my heart feels, and what takes me towards
something,” said Nell Eu.
The
idea for Tiger Stripes developed from her memories of puberty, a time when the
director says she “felt like such a monster” as her body changed and did not
like anyone to look at her.
“I
think that every human being has a fear of their own body at some point in
their life. So yeah, in my dark sense of humour, what if the protagonist really
turned into a monster?”
To
achieve this vision, Tiger Stripes uses a lot of special effects, makeup and
stage props in the tradition of old-school monster movies.
“The
challenge is, that means five hours of application and that was very tricky,
especially as we were shooting in a tropical climate, which is the absolute
worst environment to do special effects and makeup,” said Nell Eu.
Zaffan’s
body modifications were brought to life by a crew that includes experienced
makeup artists like June Goh from Singapore, and Dutch artist Rogier Samuels,
who also worked on international films such as the Lord of the Rings:
Fellowship of the Ring, Border, and X.
“Just
think of the challenge for [the actress] Zafreen, sweating inside, and when you
remove the props, you see steam coming out… I am so impressed by her. She was
so brave and into it. Her effort is truly amazing,” said Nell Eu.
Punk
rock meets Asian monsters
The
name of Tiger Stripes’s production company, Ghost Grrrl Productions, which Foo
and Nell Eu founded together, pays homage to the feminist Riot Grrrl movement,
a woman-empowerment-focused spin on the underground punk rock sub-culture that
developed in the United States’s Pacific Northwest since the 1990s.
Its
do-it-yourself, independent values inspired Nell Eu and Foo to pick the
production’s teammates, make decisions and make “a film that I think is quite
punk rock,” said Nell Eu.
Ghost
Grrrl seeks to amplify the voices of strong, feared and misunderstood females
in cinema, specifically from South East Asia. “We are both women, both very
feminist, and we have a lot of beliefs in feminism and empowerment, and we also
want to celebrate and include more diverse voices in the industry,” Nell Eu
told Al Jazeera.
But
what makes Tiger Stripes stand out from other female-driven horror films is its
setting, which vehemently reclaims and questions the rich ghostly folklore of
Nell Eu and Foo’s homeland.
“Growing
up in Malaysia is almost like growing up with ghosts and you always hear ghost
stories every night,” said Foo. “Even as a child, I watched horror movies from
Hong Kong and Hollywood before going to sleep and the scariest monster was
always female.”
Nell
Eu says she is a big fan of the pontianak (or kuntilanak in Indonesian), the
vampiric ghost of a woman who died during childbirth, which is found in the
folklore of maritime South East Asia.
“To
me, [the pontianak] is strong and powerful, the perfect embodiment of a
feminist,” said Nell Eu. “I get inspired by these figures in our stories and
culture and use them as an inspiration.”
But
at the same time, the director is not trying to pigeonhole herself into any
genre or trend, even though she is a fan of the new wave of South East Asian
horror, especially films by Indonesian directors like Joko Anwar, KimoStamboel
and TimoTjahjanto, who are winning acclaim on subscription-based streaming
services around the world.
Nell
Eu says it is not her place to say where she fits in or whether Tiger Stripes
will join that wave.
“I’ve
always felt like this is a very personal story and from that personal feeling,
it becomes universal. After the release, we’ll see what the feedback is and
what people’s reactions are, so it’s a bit too early for me to tell.”
As
she prepares for Cannes, Nell Eu is also in the early stages of planning a new
feature film – a period drama set in the late 1930s, in pre-World War II
colonial Malaya.
“I
love that period, it was so colourful, and there was so much going on,” she
said. “Rest assured, there will still be genre and there will still be blood.”
Source:
aljazeera.com
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/7/malaysian-feminist-body-horror-tiger-stripes-to-debut-at-cannes
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Fifth
Iranian Women’s Mural Highlighting the High Price They Are Willing to Pay for
Freedom Unveiled, In Israel
Mural
from the Women, Life, Freedom project
------
May
7, 2023
The
fifth mural in Israel’s Women, Life, Freedom project was unveiled on Sunday,
highlighting the high price Iranian women are willing to pay – many times with
their lives – for freedom.
Hooman
Khalili, an Iranian American who grew up in California and became a Christian,
initiated this project and is on a mission to get 18 murals displayed
throughout Israel.
I
was privileged to attend this event on Sunday and be a part of honoring the
people of Iran, who are fighting the Islamic regime. The murals are a strong
show of solidarity by Israelis with the Iranian people.
At
the unveiling on Sunday, the deputy mayors of Netanya, ShiriHazuel and
EfraimBulmash, expressed pride that the city is taking the lead on this
initiative. In fact, Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi visited one of the
city’s murals two weeks ago while in Israel.
Of
the five Iranian women’s murals currently displayed in Israel, two are in the
coastal city of Netanya. Hazuel said, “This is the least we can do – and we
need to do much more for these people who are suffering.”
Bulmash
noted that the city has a high number of Jewish Iranian immigrants so it makes
sense that this message of “freedom, women and equal rights” comes from here.
As
a champion of women’s rights, I was moved by this most recent mural, which pays
homage to Ghazal Ranjkesh, a woman whose eye was shot out in an effort to
tarnish her beauty and punish her for standing for her rights.
In
the mural, a bird rests on the missing eye of Ghazal Ranjkesh to hide the flaw,
but I felt that the bird’s beauty, and the intensity of Ghazal’s other eye,
spoke volumes of the pain she endured to be free and to celebrate her womanhood.
Ghazal has documented this crime and her recovery on social media.
That
was the intention of the mural’s artist, BenziBrofman, an international
graffiti artist and an inspirational speaker who addresses young people and the
troubles they face. Brofman was also the painter of the mural in Nazareth.
The
artist said he was careful to make sure that Ghazal’s remaining eye sends a
clear message of her strength.
Since
September, more than 600 Iranian men and women have had their eyes shot with
pellets as punishment for participating in anti-regime demonstrations which
have been taking place since the tragic death of the 22-year-old
Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa “Jina” Amini.
That’s
what Orly Cohen said at the unveiling this week. Cohen is the curator of an exhibition
at the Islamic Museum in Jerusalem that showcases the art coming out of this
recent revolution. While immersing herself in research to draw out pieces for
the exhibition, Cohen said she was overwhelmed by what the Iranian people were
suffering.
Ruth
Wasserman Lande, a former Knesset member, has been working alongside Khalili to
help him get these murals displayed around the country. Wasserman Lande
recently signed the “Sarah and Hajar (Hagar) Accords” to advance women’s issues
for countries involved in the Abraham Accords – Israel, Bahrain and the United
Arab Emirates. In the Knesset, Wasserman Lande co-chaired the Abraham Accords
Parliamentary Caucus.
Meanwhile,
Khalili is already talking about his next few murals – he has 13 more to go to
reach his goal of 18 – and the stories and pictures that inspire him coming out
of the women-led revolution.
In
his murals, Khalili always acknowledges Jerusalem and women. In this latest
one, he urges, “Esthers of the world, rise up!”
This
is a call for women to stand up for themselves and their people like the
biblical Queen Esther did in the Persian Empire.
And
certainly, the Iranian women have paid the price with their bodies in their
resistance against an oppressive regime. They are following in Queen Esther’s steps.
We,
in Israel, demonstrate our solidarity with these women and men with this series
of murals. I look forward to seeing the next one!
Source:
allisrael.com
https://allisrael.com/fifth-iranian-women-s-mural-in-israel-unveiled
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Saudi
Woman Driving Instructor, RashaZamzami, Riding High As Social Media Sensation
May
07, 2023
RIYADH:
Saudi driving instructor RashaZamzami turned her fear of cars into a passion
following a tragic accident where her niece was almost overrun about 11 years
ago, becoming a social media star in the process.
“I
was sitting in the backseat with my niece on my lap. The car’s door wasn’t
securely locked, so my niece opened it, and I saw a car driving over her;
fortunately, she squeaked past the tires,” Zamzami told Arab News.
“The
music in the car was so loud, no one could hear my screams. I jumped out of the
car in the roundabout, ran to my niece and grabbed her, and I immediately took
her to the hospital. Fortunately, she survived.”
Since the horrific event, Zamzami developed a
phobia of cars, and was left tightly gripping seats out of terror as a
passenger and avoiding loud music in vehicles as well. “This affected me since
I used to cover my eyes when I got into a car, but I made the decision to learn
how to drive because I wanted to do my own tasks after getting divorced.”
As
a single mother who wanted to become self-reliant, Zamzami overcame her fears
by not only learning to drive, but also obtaining a driving instructor license
in Jeddah. She shares informative clips with her more than 128,000 followers on
TikTok account Drive.Rasha. With her go-getter attitude, she also has caught
the attention of the automotive industry, which frequently collaborates with
the social media sensation on paid car campaigns, sponsorships and
advertisements.
“Fear turned into passion, and my love of
vehicles opened up so many opportunities for me that, as a single mother, I can
now support my three children, travel, and lead a good life relying only on
myself and my abilities,” she said.
Zamzami
often has to battle keyboard warriors who try to put her down for her choice of
career. “I have heard so many remarks that claim women are incapable of
operating a vehicle, that they are ‘queens’ in their own homes, and that
driving is not appropriate for all girls, but only illiterate and uneducated
people would say such things. I advise every woman to be resilient and disregard
such annoying comments and continue to drive away,” Zamzami said.
“Women
should fly, drive and do their own thing; they are heroes, not victims, and
they should use their fears to their advantage.”
Source:
arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2299396/saudi-arabia
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Young
Arab woman shot dead outside Haifa home, latest victim in wave of homicides
08-05-23
A
young Arab Israeli woman was gunned down Sunday night while sitting in her car
in Haifa, the latest fatality in a rash of killings throughout the country and
the 73rd Arab victim of deadly violence since the start of the year.
The
24-year-old was shot while parked just outside her home. Medics who arrived at
the location declared her dead at the scene.
The
Ynet news site, citing police sources, said police suspected the murder was
carried out by a number of masked individuals as part of a feud between two
local crime families, which has already claimed the lives of 19 people.
The
victim had no criminal record and was said to have a five-year-old son.
“It
was scary. I was still awake at home, and then I started hearing gunshots,” an
unnamed neighbor told Ynet. “It wasn’t one or two shots, but a bunch of shots.
Seven, eight or maybe even ten shots. It was loud. At the end of the shooting it
went quiet, and then I heard shouts.”
Recent
days have seen a dramatic spike in killings throughout the country, with some
15 suspected murders since the start of April. Over 90 suspected murders have
taken place since the beginning of the year — more than double the rate of last
year — with the vast majority of victims being Arab.
According
to The Abraham Initiatives, a group that campaigns against violence, there have
been 73 Arabs killed in violent circumstances since the beginning of the year.
The watchdog said 65 of them were killed by gunfire.
Police
minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right lawmaker who campaigned on promises to
beef up public safety, has largely stayed quiet on the soaring crimewave.
Mansour
Abbas, head of the Islamist Ra’am party, on Saturday night criticized Ben Gvir
for not tackling crime in the Arab community.
“We
should have sat down with [the government] and examined what they intend to do
in the area of crime and violence in Arab society. We
now have a 250%
increase in murder cases,” Abbas said in a Channel 13 interview,
“If
the national security minister is not functioning, then Likud should please put
a deputy minister in that ministry, a special czar in charge of crime and
violence, because we are paying with the lives of civilians,” Abbas said.
Saturday
saw two killings, with a 19-year-old Arab man shot dead by a non-Arab on a road
near the northern town of GanNer during a brawl, and an Arab man in his 30s
shot dead in the northern city of Acre.
Source:
timesofisrael.com
https://www.timesofisrael.com/young-arab-woman-shot-dead-outside-haifa-home-latest-victim-of-deadly-crime-wave/
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At
least 400 women reportedly on second week of hunger strike in notorious Iraqi
jail
May
05, 2023
DUBAI:
Hundreds of women convicted of being members of Daesh and serving long jail
terms in a high-security prison in Iraq have reportedly been on hunger strike
since April 24.
At
least 400 female prisoners, jailed for between 15 years and life in Baghdad’s
notorious Rusafa prison, are said to be refusing food in protest against their
convictions and poor prison conditions, the BBC reported on Friday.
The
women, originally from a number of countries including Russia, Turkiye,
Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Syria, France, Germany and the US, say that they were not
given fair trials. According to media reports, there are also about 100
children held in the prison.
After
the fall of Daesh in 2017, it is believed that thousands of the group’s male
members were executed, while women and children were detained. Some were sent
back to their home countries but many remain locked up. According to media
reports, some of the female inmates were sentenced to death at their trials but
no executions have been carried out so far.
BBC
Arabic said it had obtained videos shot inside Rusafa prison that showing
frail-looking women sitting or sleeping on stone floors. Children can also be
seen in the footage, many of whom are thought to have been born in the prison.
The
BBC said that when the hunger strike began, inmates initially survived on just
half a glass of water a day but some have now stopped eating and drinking
completely.
A
Russian prisoner, who is serving a 15-year sentence, reportedly vowed not to
eat again until she is released. She said she was convicted after a speedy
trial that lasted less than 10 minutes, based on a confession she was coerced
into signing that was written in Arabic, a language she cannot speak or read.
It purportedly said she had been caught carrying weapons in Mosul, a charge she
denies. Her claims could not be verified by BBC.
The
women also say that they were not allowed to contact their nations’ embassies
and there were no diplomatic representatives at most of their trials.
Inmates
interviewed by BBC said that nearly 60 adult prisoners and 30 children have
died in the prison in the past six years. They said they are being held 40 to a
cell and often subjected to beatings and other inhumane treatment.
Last
month, Iraq’s Ministry of Justice fired the director of the prison, citing
“leaked audio” from the facility as the reason, and acknowledged that the
prisoner population was four times over capacity.
The
Iraqi government refused to comment on the hunger strike or prison conditions
when asked by the BBC.
Source:
arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2298496/middle-east
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Iran
Sports Boss Quits After Women Compete Unveiled: State Media
May
07, 2023
TEHRAN
—
The
head of Iran's athletics federation resigned Sunday over a sporting event
featuring women without the mandatory headscarf, state media reported, as the
Islamic republic toughens enforcement of hijab rules.
"HashemSiami
resigned from his post due to the controversies that arose from the endurance
(running) race organized in Shiraz" in Iran's south, the official news
agency IRNA said.
According
to images from Friday's competition published by Iranian media, some women were
running without headscarves, made compulsory shortly after the Islamic
revolution of 1979.
Local
organizers of the public event have been summoned to provide
"explanations," the provincial prosecutor said Sunday in a statement.
Siami
told IRNA he was not involved in organizing the competition, and the unveiled
athletes were not part of the national federation.
A
new police program came into force last month aiming for stricter enforcement
of hijab-wearing in public.
The
number of women in Iran defying the dress code has increased since a wave of
protests following the September 16 death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa
Amini, 22, for allegedly breaching it.
Authorities
in Tehran last week launched proceedings against at least four actors who had
appeared in public without a headscarf, local media said.
More
than 150 commercial establishments nationwide were closed after employees had
allegedly violated the dress code, authorities said in mid-April.
In
June, police in Shiraz arrested girls who removed their veils at a
skateboarding event, as well as the organizers.
Source:
voanews.com
https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-sports-boss-quits-after-women-compete-unveiled-state-media-/7082669.html
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Iran
runners-up at 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's Asia
May
7, 2023
TEHRAN
– Iran lost to defending champions Thailand 3-1 in the final match of the 2023
IIHF Ice Hockey Women's Asia and Oceania Championship on Sunday.
Team
Melli had defeated India 17-1, Kuwait 20-0, Kyrgyzstan 26-0, the UAE 14-0 and
Singapore 3-0 in the competition.
Earlier
in the day, Singapore beat India 3-1 to win the bronze medal.
The
event started on April 30 in Bangkok, Thailand finished on May 7.
The
IIHF Women's Asia and Oceania Championship is an international women's ice
hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
It
was the IIHF women's debut for Iran and Kyrgyzstan.
Source:
tehrantimes.com
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/484450/Iran-runners-up-at-2023-IIHF-Ice-Hockey-Women-s-Asia
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/malaysian-feminist-horror-cannes/d/129729