The Storyteller, Part 2

A song of longing I'm hoping to use for the ending in Wasurenagusa.

2009-07-22T00:40:00.000-07:00

Someone please wake me from this nightmare and tell me that this did not happen in my country and that Teoh Beng Hock is safe at home with his family.

2009-07-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

Same song, different songsters.

2009-07-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

Why I'm delighted Tokyo wants Talentime.

2009-07-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

Four years ago, when Sepet came under fire from Berita Harian, RTM, and even the then Minister of Culture, it was given the Best Asian Film award at the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival.

Then just last year, the 21st TIFF gave Muallaf a Special Mention in the Asian-Middle Eastern section, while here at home, it was facing a possible ban.

Is it any wonder, then, that when they wrote and asked us for Talentime, I was both touched and thrilled?

You may find this hard to believe, but I never ever think about festivals or awards while I'm writing a script or making a film. But given the flak I get back home sometimes, you cannot blame me for feeling at least a little vindicated when foreign festivals like Tokyo seek my permission to celebrate our films.

Allah is indeed great.

What do you call a comedian who never swore, and never made fun of anyone other than himself?

2009-06-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

I would call him "a genius", and he would be Tommy Cooper, my favourite comedian of all time.

Right from the moment I first saw him play out a sketch, I believed that if I, as a scriptwriter and a filmmaker were to observe him closely, I might learn something to help me with my craft.

If you're reading this, and you fancy taking up scriptwriting and/or filmmaking one day, try this simple test:

What do you reckon was the biggest lesson in filmmaking I learnt, just by observing the late great Tommy Cooper?

Food for farmers, fit for kings.

2009-06-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

It's Vietnamese hot noodle broth with beef or chicken, and it's called the "pho".

No, it's not pronounced "po", or "fo", or even "fur", and it's impossible to learn how to say it, without someone sitting in front of you to instruct the intonations and inflexions. (Yes, there are more than one intonation/inflexion just in that one brief word!)

It's soup is made with home-made beef or chicken stock. No fat or oil is added to that already drawn from the meats.

Herbs and spices include basil leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel seeds, ginger, lemongrass, nutmeg, sawgrass, scallions, shallots, sriracha and star anise.

The noodles or koay teow are immersed shortly before serving the broth, so as to retain the firmness of texture.

Fresh bean sprouts, chilli padi, lime, and fish sauce are served on the side.

Pho is, by any reckoning, humble food.

If you're in Saigon, try it at a small halal restaurant with the inappropriately grand name of "Four Seasons". I did, yesterday.

And it... was... DIVINE!

Off to Saigon for four days!

2009-06-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

We're looking at actors and locations. There'll be auditions and lots of looking around for suitable places to shoot.

Wish us luck. I'll be back on Friday, inshaallah. Then it's Taipei on Saturday.

My fourth time judging at an international film festival. (Excited giler, siot!)

2009-06-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

It all began in 2006, with the Fajr International Film Festival in Iran. What an experience that was! Tehran was freezing, my skin was so dry that my whole body was itchy, and my poor mother slipped and fell on the sleet-covered sidewalk and cracked her wrist.

On the plus side, I met Abbas Kiarostami, Majid Majidee, and became close friends with Bahman Ghobadi.

Another sunny side to Tehran was meeting a Turkish ulama with whom I shared my experiences on Gubra, and how certain quarters here went up in arms over the idea of a bilal who was very civil towards dogs and prostitutes. His response was, "What kind of Muslims do you have in your country?!"

Then it was Thessaloniki in Greece. This time around, it was my husband who came along. We enjoyed long walks, holding hands, by the Thermikos Bay, and the Greeks took us dining at magnificent restaurants. (Greek salads have no equal on earth.)

Best of all, I got to judge with, and learn from, cinematic luminaries like Fred Roos and Jirzi Menzel.

Next was Berlin. It was freezing again, but thankfully, a lot less dry. And by then, I had already developed such a soft spot for the Berlinale. They had given Mukhsin two prizes the year before, and, as it so happened, just slightly over a week after that memorable, if somewhat traumatic, bout of jury duty in Iran.

And now, Taipei.

I was in Taipei for the Golden Horse Film Festival less than two years ago, when they held a retrospective of my films: Sepet, Gubra, and Mukhsin. It was a charming experience I should never forget.

To start with, each screening was held in a thousand-seater hall, and almost every screening saw a full house. Alhamdulillah.

The programmers had lined up the screenings of my films in the chronological order of Orked's life, starting with Mukhsin, and ending with Gubra. Smart move, I thought.

But the most sensational experience of all happened at the Q&A after a screening of Sepet.

A young man in the audience declared openly, "Hi, I'm from Tainan City, in the south of Taiwan. My friend and I saw Sepet last year and we loved it. He is so sad that he couldn't come, but he asked me to kiss you for him. Would you please let me kiss you?"

The audience roared with wild laughter. Then, just as suddenly, it fell silent, waiting for a response from me. But I was gobsmacked!

First of all, I kept thinking, "How on earth did they get to see Sepet in Tainan?" And secondly, how the hell do you say "No" to a guy who was obviously very shy, but had somehow mustered enough courage to make such an earnest request, in front of 999 people?

After a long, uncomfortable spell of pin-drop silence, I cleared my throat nervously and mumbled into the microphone, "Ok... but can it wait until we're outside?" I swear the hall then literally shook with the thunderous applause and foot-stomping that ensued.

Sigh. Unforgettable city, Taipei.

Strictly for ardent fans of Tora-san.

2009-06-14T23:32:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has ever clicked on the profile button of this blog would be familiar with the eclectic nature of my top 10 favourite films. And while some may note the presence of what certain people refer to as "arthouse films", others may wonder what films like Raj Kapoor's "Bobby" are doing there.

Closer to the truth would be those who notice the one constant factor in my choice of favourite films: Sentimentality. And that would explain the nature of my own films which, unfortunately, has been the reason why some people disapprove of them so.

Towards the end of 2002, I stumbled upon a Japanese film called "Tasogare Seibei" (Twilight Samurai), written and directed by an old man named Yoji Yamada. So taken was I with the simplicity of the story, and the basic yet deep and humble emotions that dwelled within it, that I hungrily found out as much as I could about Yamada-san's body of work.

I remember Encik Hassan Muthalib, one of my three gurus of filmmaking, telling me to look out for the Tora-san series. Yamada-san had made 48 films in the series, apparently, so I searched everywhere I could -- in Singapore, Hong Kong, and France -- for the very first one.

Happily, I found a dvd copy of it in Hong Kong. It was the last on the shelf, and it was entitled "Otoko wa Tsuraiyo" (It's Hard Being A Man).

The film opened with a square-faced man in his late thirties, roaming around the Japanese countryside, with his voice narrating his plight. He had left home as a teenager after getting into a fight with his father, his head bloodied as a result of it. He had left behind a younger sister named Sakura, now living with some relatives after their parents had died. It was spring now, and watching the Sakura flowers falling made him think about going home. He sang a song, and in it, apologised to Sakura for having been such an unreliable brother to her.

It all sounds terribly melodramatic, obviously, and in a way it was, but as you can see from the third video above, the film offers laughter as well as tears. There are no heroes in the story, and neither are there villains. Every character on screen is capable of both heroism and villainy.

In other words, they are just like you and me.

I have since watched 30 of the 48 in the Tora-san series. Sometimes you get mad at his rude, calloused ways, but sometimes you can't help but admire his kindness and courage in the face of adversity.

In the end, Tora-san was just a man. Worthy of scorn, worthy of admiration, and most of all, worthy of our love and compassion.

On August 4, 1996, the main actor of the Tora-san series, Kiyoshi Atsumi, died, after two years of battling pulmonary tuberculosis. Thus ended the world's longest movie series, in the history of cinema.

Recently I saw the 48th installation, the last in the series, and Atsumi-san clearly looked weak, despite the laughter and bravado so characteristic of Tora-san.

At the end of the film, when the credits rolled, I wept and wept. I realised then that it wasn't just Tora-san I was weeping for. It was for every man I had ever known and learned to love -- my father, my husband, my brother, nephews, and even my friends.

I wept recognising that no one was perfect, and that if we expected to be loved for all our imperfections, why are we so reluctant to accept and forgive the imperfections of others?

("Otoko wa Tsuraiyo" is now officially my number one favourite film of all time.)

"Seraphine". Shepherdess, housekeeper, self-taught artist, genius. Watch her story at GSC One Utama.

2009-06-14T01:51:00.000-07:00

Sharifah Amani, Nothingness, and Kiki Sugino.

2009-06-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

While looking at locations for "Wasurenagusa" and meeting with investors in Japan a couple of months ago, I asked our Executive Producer, Kousuke Ono, to take us to Ozu's grave.

So off we went, the four of us. Sharifah Amani (who is to play the lead character Inom), Kiki (the producer who will also play Yukiko), Ono-san himself, and I.

We took a long train ride from Tokyo to Kita-Kamakura station, walked to Engaku Temple at the edge of it, and climbed steep paths and steps to the tomb of one of my favorite filmmakers of all time.

Written on his tombstone was the Chinese character "Wu" ("Mu" in Japanese).

In my opinion, along with the term "Zen", "Wu" is perhaps one of the most frequently misunderstood words in history. It literally means "Nothing", and herein lies the first hint of its hidden meaning.

No one is truly able to understand Nothingness or the figure Zero, any more than they can comprehend the concept of Infinity.

So what does it mean when we say a Thing is in a state of Nothingness? How can Nothing (No Thing) ever be a Thing at the same time?

Perhaps, and I stress perhaps, it has something to do with Lao Tzu's concept of emptiness.

"The True Way is empty
yet it fills every vessel with endless supply
The True Way is hidden
yet it shines in every corner of the universe"

Five times a day, a Muslim is asked to face what some people would describe as The True Way.

He begins by standing upright.

At some point, he lowers his head and torso and bows.

A little later, he finds himself at an even lower position, kneeling and pressing his forehead against the ground.

All the while, as he reduces himself physically, he expresses obeisance and utters words that concede absolute subservience to a Greater Power.

In other words, he drops all manners of arrogance, and sheds any belief of self-importance.

Is he, in fact, approaching the state of Nothingness?

Why do I love this deceptively simple poem by William Carlos Williams? Would anyone care to explain?

2009-05-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Talentime screening at FINAS, free entry for public.

2009-05-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

At 3pm this Saturday May 23, inshaallah FINAS will be screening our film Talentime at Pawagam Mini P.Ramlee, followed by a Q&A with the audience. On the panel will be Dr Wan Zawawi, Mahesh Jugal Kishor, and I.

See you there, maybe?

Inshaallah, after "Wasurenagusa", it's a Singaporean film called "Go, Thaddeus!"

2009-05-18T04:45:00.000-07:00

( The article below was lifted from Today, the Singaporean daily paper. Look it up here: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/320449.asp )

Monday, May 18, 2009.

Go, Yasmin, go! Malaysian director tackles Singaporean teen triathlete’s tragic death for new film. ~ Mayo Martin in Cannes

Yasmin Ahmad’s new film will soon be up and running. And it’s based on one of the biggest tragedies to have hit Singapore sport, involving triathlete Thaddeus Cheong.

Yasmin, the Malaysian director of award-winning films like Muallaf and the TV commercials for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports — Eulogy and Red Shoes — is currently writing the script for "Go, Thaddeus!"

In June 2007, the 17-year-old Cheong, a Raffles Junior College student, collapsed at the finish line during a selection race for the South-east Asian Games triathlon event. He died soon after.

"Go, Thaddeus!" will be based on the book "Running The Full Distance: Thaddeus Cheong", written by the late athlete’s aunt, Belinda Wee.

It is set to be released in Singapore and Malaysia in August next year as a lead up to the Singapore Youth Olympics.

Coming on board as producer is Thomas Chia, director of independent movie distributor Lighthouse Pictures. The first-time feature-length producer told Today at the Cannes Film Festival that Wee had contacted Yasmin through him.

Chia, a personal friend of the director and distributor of her films, said: “(Wee) sent me the book, I finished it in four hours and cried my eyes out. I knew Yasmin would be interested in something like this.”

He added: “I saw this project as viable because it’s for the Youth Olympics, it’s a real story of a national hero, and Belinda went all out to get all the government agencies to be involved.” One of the film’s earliest supporters is the Singapore Sports Council.

The 15-day shoot for "Go, Thaddeus!" commences in February next year, with an estimated budget of somewhere between $700,000 to $1.2 million. Actors have yet to be cast, but Chia revealed that the short list for one of the lead roles includes a Singapore TV and movie actress, and that Yasmin “has been speaking to one of the biggest actresses in Malaysia. And she’s Chinese”.

If the ticket counter person says it's a full-house, insist on seeing their computer screen!

2009-05-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

What happened to Gubra has been happening to SellOut!

People wanting to buy tickets were told there were none left and that it was a full house, when in actual fact the hall was half empty. Don't ask me why they're doing it, but apparently some of them do.

So if you feel like supporting an internationally-acclaimed Malaysian comedy that was a hit in Italy, do the right thing. Insist, insist, insist they sell you the ticket you want to buy.

Taken by my baby, last month in Bali.

2009-05-12T03:21:00.000-07:00

My first hard-sell commercial in a while!

2009-04-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

My husband often said to me, "You have it easy. All you do is make entertaining commercials that don't require direct, hard selling of a product's benefits."

He was right, of course, although I often argued that making my kind of commercials wasn't as easy as it seemed.

That's why I grabbed the chance to make this product benefit riddled spot for my favourite airline in the world.

Admittedly, it wasn't an easy task, but it was one that I enjoyed immensely.

I hope you enjoy watching it.

The killing of a puppy.

2009-04-18T01:53:00.000-07:00

This morning, I received a heartbreaking email which brought tears to my eyes.

Entitled "Puppy Murderer", it read as follows:

"6 month puppy, strangled because it entered a neighbour's house and into prayer area. Story: Langkawi. Owner of dog Muslim. Neighbour Malay. Puppy gets loose and enters neighbour's house. Neighbour takes a noose and strangles dog to death. Rescuers arrive in time to bury the dog and get profanities shouted at them by puppy murderer. We need to do some justice for the dog and educate these people. We are awaiting more news about this incident - please contact me, Sherrina K, at 012 202 6384."

Recently, I received a long comment on my SPCA video, which Lembaga Penapisan Filem refused to let us run, without some drastic changes. The irate commenter said that I was making a big deal out of nothing, and that there were more pressing issues at hand.

Well, to that commenter, I submit that yesterday, while that self-righteous neighbour tied that noose around that puppy's neck and tightened it, nothing mattered more to that innocent, helpless creature of God than to have a kind hand intervene and loosen that rope, so it could run home again, into the arms of the people who loved it.

A short film we made recently, commissioned by the government of Singapore.

2009-04-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

Yikes! It's this Thursday!

2009-03-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

"Talentime" - Countdown to March 26th.

2009-03-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit crazy.

In the last four weeks, I've shot 14 commercials for Earth Hour, one for AirAsia, and just last week, one for the Singapore government.

And in between, I attended one meet-and-greet session for the second release of "Muallaf" in Singapore, and two pre-release screenings of "Talentime".

The picture you see above was taken at the Q&A session following a press screening of "Talentime" at Cineleisure, The Curve.

Yes, it's been crazy. And I'm deliriously happy. Alhamdulillah.

An achingly beautiful film.

2009-03-05T16:15:00.000-08:00

Okuribito (Departures) is a film by 54-year old Yojiro Takita. You must do everything possible to watch this Oscar winning film, as soon as you can.

"Muallaf" re-opens in Singapore at Causeway Point, starting today.

2009-03-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

I'm in Singapore, so I might drop by later to see if everything's alright.

Inshaallah, I'll be there this Saturday afternoon to watch the 3:30pm with the audience.

So, my darling Singaporeans, see you there!

Why didn't anyone tell us that we won two of these!

2009-03-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

I chanced upon this website ~

http://www.olympiafestival.gr/01_FilmFestival/Awards.htm

~ and discovered that all of two years ago, our film "Mukhsin" had won two of these awards, including the Best Feature Film, from the international jury of that festival.

What I would like to know is, who's got the trophies?

I mean, sure, perhaps it's not as prestigious a festival as the Berlinale, but hey, "Mukhsin" already HAD won two prizes at the Berlinale. Besides, I'm not one to dismiss any blessing the Lord presents to me, however small it may seem to others.

So please, if anyone out there knows where these trophies are (someone from Grand Brilliance perhaps, or maybe they're still with the festival organisers?), please at least let me have a look at them.

These Olympia trophies would make the number of international awards won by "Mukhsin" total up to eight. (Oh, but none in Malaysia, though... ahem!)

"Talentime" nominated for the SIGNIS Award at the 33rd Hong Kong International Film Festival.

2009-03-01T06:45:00.000-08:00

You can read all about it here: http://www.hkiff.org.hk/eng/info/festival/awards/4.html

"Co-organised with SIGNIS Hong Kong, it is a salute to films that fully express social and humanitarian concerns, as well as spiritual and artistic values."

12 NOMINEES:

No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (Taiwan)

Somewhere I Have Never Travelled (Taiwan)

Lonely Tunes of Tehran (Iran)

Deep in the Valley (Japan)

Treeless Mountain (Korea)

The Blue Bird (Japan)

Once Upon a Time in Rio (Brazil)

Vaclav (Czech Republic)

The Rainbow Troops (Indonesia)

Talentime (Malaysia)

Mid August Lunch (Italy)

Quiet Chaos (Italy)

As always, we're not really expecting to win, but very grateful to be nominated at all, amidst what looks like really, really tough competition.

Alhamdulillah.

Talentime rough trailers 1 and 2.

2009-02-16T09:19:00.001-08:00

By far the best film I've seen in the last 12 months!

2009-02-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

This little big film absolutely threw me for six.

I'm not a fan of Colin "see-how-good-I-look-when-I-brood" Farrell. And with very few exceptions from Hitchcock and Kitano, crime thrillers usually thrill me about as much as a plate of boiled fish.

But right from the word "Go", this small story, set in the small Belgian town of Bruge, shook me to my foundation.

As a writer of screenplays, I marvelled at the deftness with which Martin McDonagh roused every human emotion possible to make me sympathise with, believe it or not, three MURDERERS, making me laugh and cry with each character, all the way, right until the very end.

Not since Almodovar's "Talk To Her" and Neil Jordan's "Mona Lisa" did I sit back after watching a film and thought, "Damn, I wish I had written that script!"

I rank this head and shoulders above all other films I've seen this year and most of last year, including, yes, the much lauded "Slumdogs".

Please spread this little film.

2009-02-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

On the 29th of December, 2008, my crew and I shot this commercial in Ipoh. It was a one-day shoot, alhamdulillah.

I had written a script, based on the true story of Encik Shahrul's family, or more specifically, of his youngest child, Adlan.

Adlan was an extreme autistic who, for 7 years, behaved like he was trapped in a bubble, unable to communicate with the outside world, and vice versa.

What finally brought him out of that state is shown in the commercial you see here.

The dog is the most misunderstood animal in this country. Its haters, I'm sad to say, are largely Malays who often don't even know the difference between "haram" and "najis", let alone the finer points and different degrees of najis.

With this little film, I urge my people to read more about the true Islamic rules concerning this beautiful creature of God, and to please refrain from being cruel to it.

Let's do this for Allah.

"Muallaf" back by popular demand in Singapore.

2009-02-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

Inshaallah, come February the 26th, something which almost never happens, will happen.

It's called a "re-release", and it's scheduled to take place at the Cathay Causeway Point cinema.

As some of you may know, our film was severely maligned by one local journalist who could not tell the difference between Quranic and Biblical verses, but never bothered to find out, and went on to accuse me of being a religious pluralist.

Consequently, there was a sort of cyberspace persecution, where bloggers and forumers who had never even seen the film embarked upon a blind crusade to send me to hell. And to think that they were attacking the very same film which made many people in Japan and Singapore, both Muslims and non-Muslims, look up the Holy Quran and later confess how they found it beautiful.

Perhaps that's why the mere thought of "Muallaf" resurfacing, despite all those attempts to suppress it, now moves me so deeply.

"If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let believers put their trust." - Al-Imran, 3:160.

Wish us well on tonight's charity screening for Mercy Malaysia's work in Gaza.

2009-01-22T20:29:00.000-08:00

We didn't want to complicate things by opening it to the public. Handling cash is dicey. So we decided to keep it simple by inviting a select group of corporations to donate and attend the very first theatrical screening of our new film "Talentime".

It's a 320-seater cinema hall, but we didn't really care if only 7 people turned up, as long as they brought cheques with them. The corporations we invited were given no "minimum amount" instructions, and were told they could send up to 30 or 40 people.

Response has been good, alhamdulillah.

We saw the print yesterday at a local colour lab studio and it looked beautiful, thank God. Jaclyn Victor's performance was particularly outstanding on big screen. That girl can go far, inshaallah.

My producer and I will most likely be sitting at the back of the hall, anxiously watching the audience reactions throughout our 1 hour 57 minute film.

The seats are almost fully taken, with some room to spare for our main cast. Jac, Mahesh, Kahoe, Pamela, Elza, Kak Azean, and Ida Nerina might come. Mohd Syafie, unfortunately, is in Sarawak at a shoot.

May Allah guide us in making things run smoothly tonight. Ameen, ya rabbal aalameen.

(ps: "Talentime" is scheduled for general theatrical release on March 26th, 2009. "Muallaf" will be back, by popular demand, in Singapore, from February 26th.)

Do you recognise the lead actor in my latest commercial?

2009-01-21T16:46:00.001-08:00

The "Talentime" babes.

2009-01-14T07:01:00.000-08:00

Quick update.

2009-01-13T07:14:00.000-08:00

"Muallaf" is at Lembaga Penapisan Filem. Apparently, the verdict will be announced tomorrow.

Fendi Harjoh, the producer for "Talentime", delivered the print to them and asked that it be given at least a temporary stamp of approval, if not a full one.

He also asked that they got onto it immediately as each single day of delay would mean a delay in the delivery of much needed medicine and medical equipment to Gaza.

Inshaallah, the private corporate screening of "Muallaf" will be held next week, at Cineleisure, The Curve.

Please pray that it'll happen sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, we had a photo shoot of our main actors yesterday at Studio DL. Faiz Akbar is designing the poster, and David Lok is the photographer.

The picture above is NOT the "Talentime" poster. It was just something we were trying out.

Aren't my babies beautiful?

An important article about the lies the Western and Israeli media tells about Gaza, written by an Israeli journalist.

2009-01-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS ago, in the course of World War II, a heinous crime was committed in the city of Leningrad. For more than a thousand days, a gang of extremists called "the Red Army" held the millions of the town's inhabitants hostage and provoked retaliation from the German Wehrmacht from inside the population centers. The Germans had no alternative but to bomb and shell the population and to impose a total blockade, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands.

Some time before that, a similar crime was committed in England. The Churchill gang hid among the population of London, misusing the millions of citizens as a human shield. The Germans were compelled to send their Luftwaffe and reluctantly reduce the city to ruins. They called it the Blitz.

This is the description that would now appear in the history books – if the Germans had won the war.

Absurd? No more than the daily descriptions in our media, which are being repeated ad nauseam: the Hamas terrorists use the inhabitants of Gaza as "hostages" and exploit the women and children as "human shields", they leave us no alternative but to carry out massive bombardments, in which, to our deep sorrow, thousands of women, children and unarmed men are killed and injured.

IN THIS WAR, as in any modern war, propaganda plays a major role. The disparity between the forces, between the Israeli army - with its airplanes, gunships, drones, warships, artillery and tanks - and the few thousand lightly armed Hamas fighters, is one to a thousand, perhaps one to a million. In the political arena the gap between them is even wider. But in the propaganda war, the gap is almost infinite.

Almost all the Western media initially repeated the official Israeli propaganda line. They almost entirely ignored the Palestinian side of the story, not to mention the daily demonstrations of the Israeli peace camp. The rationale of the Israeli government ("The state must defend its citizens against the Qassam rockets") has been accepted as the whole truth. The view from the other side, that the Qassams are a retaliation for the siege that starves the one and a half million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, was not mentioned at all.

Only when the horrible scenes from Gaza started to appear on Western TV screens, did world public opinion gradually begin to change.

True, Western and Israeli TV channels showed only a tiny fraction of the dreadful events that appear 24 hours every day on Aljazeera's Arabic channel, but one picture of a dead baby in the arms of its terrified father is more powerful than a thousand elegantly constructed sentences from the Israeli army spokesman. And that is what is decisive, in the end.

War – every war – is the realm of lies. Whether called propaganda or psychological warfare, everybody accepts that it is right to lie for one's country. Anyone who speaks the truth runs the risk of being branded a traitor.

The trouble is that propaganda is most convincing for the propagandist himself. And after you convince yourself that a lie is the truth and falsification reality, you can no longer make rational decisions.

An example of this process surrounds the most shocking atrocity of this war so far: the shelling of the UN Fakhura school in Jabaliya refugee camp.

Immediately after the incident became known throughout the world, the army "revealed" that Hamas fighters had been firing mortars from near the school entrance. As proof they released an aerial photo which indeed showed the school and the mortar. But within a short time the official army liar had to admit that the photo was more than a year old. In brief: a falsification.

Later the official liar claimed that "our soldiers were shot at from inside the school". Barely a day passed before the army had to admit to UN personnel that that was a lie, too. Nobody had shot from inside the school, no Hamas fighters were inside the school, which was full of terrified refugees.

But the admission made hardly any difference anymore. By that time, the Israeli public was completely convinced that "they shot from inside the school", and TV announcers stated this as a simple fact.

So it went with the other atrocities. Every baby metamorphosed, in the act of dying, into a Hamas terrorist. Every bombed mosque instantly became a Hamas base, every apartment building an arms cache, every school a terror command post, every civilian government building a "symbol of Hamas rule". Thus the Israeli army retained its purity as the "most moral army in the world".

THE TRUTH is that the atrocities are a direct result of the war plan. This reflects the personality of Ehud Barak – a man whose way of thinking and actions are clear evidence of what is called "moral insanity", a sociopathic disorder.

The real aim (apart from gaining seats in the coming elections) is to terminate the rule of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In the imagination of the planners, Hamas is an invader which has gained control of a foreign country. The reality is, of course, entirely different.

The Hamas movement won the majority of the votes in the eminently democratic elections that took place in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. It won because the Palestinians had come to the conclusion that Fatah's peaceful approach had gained precisely nothing from Israel - neither a freeze of the settlements, nor release of the prisoners, nor any significant steps toward ending the occupation and creating the Palestinian state. Hamas is deeply rooted in the population – not only as a resistance movement fighting the foreign occupier, like the Irgun and the Stern Group in the past – but also as a political and religious body that provides social, educational and medical services.

From the point of view of the population, the Hamas fighters are not a foreign body, but the sons of every family in the Strip and the other Palestinian regions. They do not "hide behind the population", the population views them as their only defenders.

Therefore, the whole operation is based on erroneous assumptions. Turning life into living hell does not cause the population to rise up against Hamas, but on the contrary, it unites behind Hamas and reinforces its determination not to surrender. The population of Leningrad did not rise up against Stalin, any more than the Londoners rose up against Churchill.

He who gives the order for such a war with such methods in a densely populated area knows that it will cause dreadful slaughter of civilians. Apparently that did not touch him. Or he believed that "they will change their ways" and "it will sear their consciousness", so that in future they will not dare to resist Israel.

A top priority for the planners was the need to minimize casualties among the soldiers, knowing that the mood of a large part of the pro-war public would change if reports of such casualties came in. That is what happened in Lebanon Wars I and II.

This consideration played an especially important role because the entire war is a part of the election campaign. Ehud Barak, who gained in the polls in the first days of the war, knew that his ratings would collapse if pictures of dead soldiers filled the TV screens.

Therefore, a new doctrine was applied: to avoid losses among our soldiers by the total destruction of everything in their path. The planners were not only ready to kill 80 Palestinians to save one Israeli soldier, as has happened, but also 800. The avoidance of casualties on our side is the overriding commandment, which is causing record numbers of civilian casualties on the other side.

That means the conscious choice of an especially cruel kind of warfare – and that has been its Achilles heel.

A person without imagination, like Barak (his election slogan: "Not a Nice Guy, but a Leader") cannot imagine how decent people around the world react to actions like the killing of whole extended families, the destruction of houses over the heads of their inhabitants, the rows of boys and girls in white shrouds ready for burial, the reports about people bleeding to death over days because ambulances are not allowed to reach them, the killing of doctors and medics on their way to save lives, the killing of UN drivers bringing in food. The pictures of the hospitals, with the dead, the dying and the injured lying together on the floor for lack of space, have shocked the world. No argument has any force next to an image of a wounded little girl lying on the floor, twisting with pain and crying out: "Mama! Mama!"

The planners thought that they could stop the world from seeing these images by forcibly preventing press coverage. The Israeli journalists, to their shame, agreed to be satisfied with the reports and photos provided by the Army Spokesman, as if they were authentic news, while they themselves remained miles away from the events. Foreign journalists were not allowed in either, until they protested and were taken for quick tours in selected and supervised groups. But in a modern war, such a sterile manufactured view cannot completely exclude all others – the cameras are inside the strip, in the middle of the hell, and cannot be controlled. Aljazeera broadcasts the pictures around the clock and reaches every home.

THE BATTLE for the TV screen is one of the decisive battles of the war. Hundreds of millions of Arabs from Mauritania to Iraq, more than a billion Muslims from Nigeria to Indonesia see the pictures and are horrified. This has a strong impact on the war. Many of the viewers see the rulers of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority as collaborators with Israel in carrying out these atrocities against their Palestinian brothers.

The security services of the Arab regimes are registering a dangerous ferment among the peoples. Hosny Mubarak, the most exposed Arab leader because of his closing of the Rafah crossing in the face of terrified refugees, started to pressure the decision-makers in Washington, who until that time had blocked all calls for a cease-fire. These began to understand the menace to vital American interests in the Arab world and suddenly changed their attitude – causing consternation among the complacent Israeli diplomats.

People with moral insanity cannot really understand the motives of normal people and must guess their reactions. "How many divisions has the Pope?" Stalin sneered. "How many divisions have people of conscience?" Ehud Barak may well be asking.

As it turns out, they do have some. Not numerous. Not very quick to react. Not very strong and organized. But at a certain moment, when the atrocities overflow and masses of protesters come together, that can decide a war.

THE FAILURE to grasp the nature of Hamas has caused a failure to grasp the predictable results. Not only is Israel unable to win the war, Hamas cannot lose it.

Even if the Israeli army were to succeed in killing every Hamas fighter to the last man, even then Hamas would win. The Hamas fighters would be seen as the paragons of the Arab nation, the heroes of the Palestinian people, models for emulation by every youngster in the Arab world. The West Bank would fall into the hands of Hamas like a ripe fruit, Fatah would drown in a sea of contempt, the Arab regimes would be threatened with collapse.

If the war ends with Hamas still standing, bloodied but unvanquished, in the face of the mighty Israeli military machine, it will look like a fantastic victory, a victory of mind over matter.

What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints. This will have severe consequences for our long-term future, our standing in the world, our chance of achieving peace and quiet.

In the end, this war is a crime against ourselves too, a crime against the State of Israel.

__________________________________________________

(Uri Avnery is an Israeli journalist, peace activist, former member of the Knesset, and leader of Gush Shalom. He is a regular contributor to Media Monitors Network (MMN).)

Web link
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/58374

Sad, but hopeful. Dr Jem's latest sms from Gaza.

2009-01-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

At around 5:50am this morning of January the 8th, 2009, I sent a message to Dr Jemilah:

"Salaam, my love. Hope all's well with you. We're in the midst of organising a charity screening of 'Muallaf' to garner corporate donations for Mercy. Doa for us, ok?"

Her response came in less than a minute:

"Alhamdulillah. I am fine. Spent some time with Palestinian kids transferred to Cairo for treatment. They were crying and wanting to go home! They don't realise their homes have been blown apart. So very sad. Getting the second consignment ready to go again. Take care. Salaam to all and thank everyone for their generosity and doas."

So far, AirAsia, the New Straits Times, TV3, Alliance Cosmetics (Silky Girl), AddAudio and McCann-Ericson have said YES to block-booking seats for the screening. I thank them for their generosity. Heads of corporations reading this are welcome to do the same.

We should be sending the "Muallaf" print to Lembaga Penapisan Filem next week, inshaallah. We are asking them not to make any cuts.

According to a recent report, about a third of those killed in Gaza have been children. Those children are now safe with Allah. Let's try and help the ones left behind wounded and homeless.

Salaam.

Some news from Dr Jemilah of Mercy Malaysia.

2009-01-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

Salaam, all.

Apart from the brief feature of Dr Jemilah in the video above, I also received another sms from her, after I told her that I was to be phone-interviewed, live, on Astro last night.

"Allahu Akbar (God is great). Please thank Malaysians for their support. After I wrote to you, the bombs stopped. I am now crossing into the border. Doa for me. Love u."

Latest news!

I sms'd Dr Jem, enquiring about her current state of affairs, and got this reply:

"Alhamdulillah (Praise the Lord). Nothing short of a miracle and Allah's love and mercy for us. We managed to transfer 50 tons of supplies. Many people waited for days, but we sailed through. Alhamdulillah. How was your TV thing? To be honest, it's been very slow on the fund-raising side from HQ."

Understandably, many of you out there are young and don't yet have a steady income. And you probably feel helpless about it all. Don't worry. You can do what a group of us did when we were studying in England: collect small amounts from as many people as possible, then ask someone with a bank account to make out a cheque. As Dr Jemilah often says, "No amount is too small, and will be gratefully received."

And who knows, the 10 ringgit that you gather may seem small, but by God's will, it could translate into some suture (medical sewing) which would stop a child from bleeding to death.

( Please make cheques payable to MERCY MALAYSIA. CIMB account number: 1424-000-6561053. For more information, please contact 03-2273 3999. )

IMPORTANT! Please watch these, or go straight to the end of the posting to find out how you can help.

2009-01-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

Chomsky, Solomom, Ackerman, and many others. Even the Jews are speaking out against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

For God's sake, and for the sake of thousands of broken children, please post these videos on your blogs and pass them around.

Salaam.

( I just received an sms from Dr Jemilah of Mercy Malaysia. It went like this: "Salaam, Min. As I write this, in the last 15 minutes more than 20 bombs have fallen on Gaza, within the distance I can hear them. We are about 2 km from Palestine, and it is a case of so near and yet so far. Our five trucks are loaded with USD100,000 worth of valuable medicine, surgical sets, and disposable items, including syringes, intravenous infusions and bandages. We will wait till the bombings stop, and once the gate opens, we will try to push the goods through. While the Egyptian border has thankfully allowed aid to go through, the challenge is to wait for trucks from the Palestine side to come and collect the goods. For the past day, they have not been able to collect even life saving goods as Israel continues with land and air assaults. We will try our best and stay till we can assure our aid goes through. Many people have been kind to us here and we ask for your continued support and prayers." )

Once again, I urge you to contact Mercy Malaysia at 03-2273 3999, or email to info@mercy.org.my and find out how best you can help raise funds for medical aid that can help save the lives of wounded children in Gaza.

Unhappy new year, Gaza.

2008-12-31T09:49:00.000-08:00

One hour into the new year, I couldn't find much room in my heart for rejoicing. I kept retrieving and reading a text message I received from Dr. Jemilah of Mercy Malaysia, early yesterday afternoon. It read...

"Salaam. I am leaving tonight for Egypt and onto Rafah, to set up a pipeline for aid into Gaza. Don't worry, it is safe there. Pray for us and the people who are suffering there. Happy new year, I love all of you."

Please... please pray for my friend and all the broken bodies she is going to try and mend there.

And sweet, sweet Allah, please keep her safe and give her strength. Ameen, ya rabbal aalameen.

( For more information on Mercy Malaysia, please contact 03-2273 3999 or email to info@mercy.org.my )

Malaysia faces "Talentime", tentatively scheduled for release on March 26th, 2009.

2008-12-27T04:53:00.000-08:00

Not since our disovery of Sharifah Amani when she was only 16, back in 2003, had I ever met such talented young Malaysians as the people you see here.

Starting with Mahesh Jugal Kishore, allow me to introduce you to this diabolically good-looking 18-year old who could command a new language in less than a week!

Then there is Mohd. Syafie Naswip, winner of the Best Child Actor award at the FFM two years ago, and, at the tender age of 15, beat veterans like Rosyam Nor, Nasir Bilal Khan, and Rusdi Ramli, for the Best Actor award at last year's Anugerah Skrin. His heartfelt debut performance as Mukhsin stole hearts in Berlin, Tokyo, Paris and New York. In "Talentime", he plays the extremely demanding role of a schoolboy who tries to put on a brave face for his cancer-stricken mother, played by Azean Irdawaty.

Swiftly moving on, next in line is Pamela Chong, one of a two-sister team which got second prize at last year's Amazing Race Asia. She took to acting like fish to water, and had memorised her lines, way before most other actors at reharsals, two months before principal shooting began.

Obviously, Jaclyn Victor needs no introduction here. The first ever winner of Malaysian Idol, and arguably the finest singer in South-East Asia, Jac stunned the crew with her powerfully nuanced debut as an actor.

Finally, the drop-dead gorgeous Howard Hon Kahoe, barely 17, became the instant hearthrob on set, with his winsome smile and sultry pout. He played the domestically pressured teenager to perfection, and will most likely have a part in my upcoming Japanese film project, "Wasurenagusa".

These fine young performers, along with the amazingly gifted and versatile Elza (sorry babe, they never gave me a good-sized photo of you!), daughter of Azean Irdawaty, make for worthwhile viewing of our new film "Talentime".

Allah has been so generous. Rabbana wa lakalhamdu.

December 24th, 2008. The end of "Muallaf" four-week run in Singapore.

2008-12-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I'm just about the most sentimental person I know.

And those among you who have seen "Talentime", or indeed any of my films or even my Petronas commercials, will click their tongues, cast their eyes skyward, and say, "Well, no shit, Sherlock!"

Mister Thomas Chia of Lighthouse Pictures, I cannot thank you enough for having faith in my work, even way back then, when most people did not. You are God-sent, of that I'm certain.

And all those Singaporeans who watched "Muallaf" once, twice, even three times, many of whom opened up the Holy Quran afterwards, Muslims AND non-Muslims, seeking to find out what Rohana's numbers meant! It was you who led our little film to earn a nett box office taking that's TWICE as much as "Sepet". Thank you so much. You too are a blessing from above.

(I just found out that the very last screening of "Muallaf" at 10:15pm has only two front rows left unfilled. Alhamdulillah.)

And now our film must leave your shores and face the censorship board here. Oh well. It's in God's hands now.

In the words of the last verse of al-Baqarah which Brian read to the coma patient in "Muallaf", "On no soul does God place a burden greater than it can bear."

Subhaanallah.

The one you feed.

2008-12-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all. One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, greed, and arrogance. The other is Good - It is peace, love, hope, humility, compassion, and faith."

The grandson thought about this for a while and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

To which the old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Ed Gonzales's top 10 films of 2008.

2008-12-16T07:14:00.000-08:00

1) A Dogme film with an Altmanesque soul, "Rachel Getting Married" is a richly eccentric and instinctive look at addiction and the toils, troubles, and joys of blood relations, in which a young girl struggles to save herself using a language no one either speaks or cares to, set by Jonathan Demme during a wedding whose pretense to multiculturalism reveals itself as a narcissistic clan's way of disguising from the world that they're hurting just as badly as the next family.

2) Built on sensuous interplays between people and objects, reality and representation, José Luis Guerín's rapturously alfresco "In the City of Sylvia" uses a voluptuous language of spatial-temporal equations to conflate one's love of people with one's love of movies.

3) A sterling follow-up to his similarly themed "Changing Times", "The Witnesses" is another triumph for the criminally underrated André Téchiné, who uses his sensual humanist verve to hone in on the desires and insecurities of a group of friends and lovers when AIDS rattles their sense of complacency.

4) Errol Morris's dramatic recreations are his aesthetic signature, and they're sometimes sore spots in his work, but in his heady Abu Ghraib exposé "Standard Operating Procedure" they are as purposeful as they were in "The Thin Blue Line", cannily dialoguing with his thesis about the veracity of image-making.

5) "Summer Palace" teems with sex scenes more meaningful than anything in "Lust, Caution", hinging on more than just a feeling of duplicity; in them, Ye Lou locates the soul of his young people, a woman's areola and the hairs on a man's chin popping off the screen as vividly and urgently as placards of political protest.

6) Filmmaker and explorer, Werner Herzog is a man obsessed with the secrets and wonders of uncharted terrains and their inhabitants, and with his sly, poetic, and melancholic "Encounters at the End of the World" he reflects on the eccentricity, compassion, and possible madness of people like himself united in their committment to looking beyond themselves.

7) A sweet and mellow Malaysia-set love story between a young boy and girl, "Mukhsin" is chockablock with bittersweet cultural observations, with Yasmin Ahmad peering at the ecstasies and haunts of her young characters with a mixture of lovingness and randiness that brings to mind Yasujiro Ozu's "Good Morning".

8) Lush with longing and history, "My Father My Lord" suggests an ancient vase with small precarious cracks spread across its surface. Writer-director David Volach's subjective use of video technology toys with space and distance, affecting the curiosity of his cherubic main character, whose love for his father is as powerful and incandescent as lightning.

9) An unexpectedly poignant queering of the horror genre, "Let the Right One In" is the story of one child's painful coming of age and another's insatiable bloodlust. Do not avert your eyes from Tomas Alfredson's gorgeously, meaningfully aestheticized vision, though you may want to cover your neck.

10) With "Happy-Go-Lucky", Mike Leigh engages silent-movie idiom for a study of human behavior that appears out of sync with the times but shouldn't really, and as memorably performed by Sally Hawkins using an arsenal of unbelievably orchestrated sniggers and jostles and punctuating guffaws, her wild child emerges as an example of humane perseverance.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: "Man on Wire", "Chris & Don", "Reprise", "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl", "The Strangers", "Redbelt", "Still Life", "Gran Torino", "Trouble the Water", and "Up the Yangtze".

The talented, young Frenchman who made that charming animation trailer of "Mukhsin".

2008-12-08T19:03:00.000-08:00

His name is Adrien Tache. He turns 18 on December 30th.

But don't get too excited, girls. He already has a girlfriend by the name of Olivia Nouvel.

"Muallaf" and the mystery of Rohana's numbers.

2008-12-02T01:12:00.000-08:00

Some Singaporeans on facebook have been discussing "Muallaf" and the numbers Rohana cited, every time the poor girl got a little upset. This, to me, is exciting beyond belief.

Just a month ago, a lovely Japanese young lady named Sawaka watched "Muallaf" in Tokyo. Soon after, she emailed me and said, "I myself am a pseudo Catholic, but watching the movie made me want to read the Koran." I told her to look up quranexplorer.com and she thanked me for the website address.

Much as I would prefer that viewers who are curious about Rohani's numbers would actually pick up a copy of the Holy Quran with translations to find out what the verses were saying, I do realise that it is hard to remember the numbers and the scenes they appeared in.

So here then are two scenes where Rohani cited some numbers, which chapters those numbers came from, and the verses themselves translated into English.

After Mrs. Siva's caning episode, Brian drove Rohana home. Along the way, he said to Rohana, “You won’t have to worry about Mrs. Siva for a while. I think she’ll probably get suspended. And if your sister decides to press charges, she’ll be out for good.” To which Rohana replied, “One hundred and eight, three.”

In the Holy Quran, chapter 108 is entitled “Al-Kauthar”, and line 3 translates to “For he who hateth thee, he will be cut off from future hope.”

In the scene where Brian and Brother Anthony visited the girls in their hideout home, Brian confronted the girls by saying, “Don’t worry, we won’t let on, but you girls ran away from home, didn’t you?” To which Rohani replied, “I wouldn’t call it running away… just running to safety.” Then, Rohana interrupted the conversation by muttering “Sixteen, Forty-one” under her breath.

Chapter 16 is entitled “An-Nahl”, and verse 41 reads, “To those who leave their homes in the cause of Allah, after suffering oppression, We will assuredly give a goodly home in this world: but truly the reward of the Hereafter will be greater. If they only knew!”

For those who have plans to watch the film soon, it might be fun to bring along a little note book, or maybe even just a pen and a piece of paper, on which to jot down Rohani's mysterious numbers. Then when you get home, you can look up their meaning at quranexplorer.com to check their relevance to the scenes in which they appeared.

One movie reviewer in Singapore told me that after watching "Muallaf", he went home to his mother, gave her a hug, and asked her to forgive him for all the times he had hurt her feelings. I remember thinking to myself, "Even if the whole world now hates this film, I shall be eternally grateful, just for that one act of love and reconciliation."

How perfect God is.

I just fell in love with the French!

2008-11-30T23:46:00.000-08:00

Someone in France made this. Don't ask me who it was, or why he did it, because I haven't the faintest.

But here it is. I found it on youtube.

And if that French person can prove to me that he did it, I shall send to him the best existing copy of "Mukhsin" dvd which was printed in the Netherlands.

The Dutch being the Dutch, there's even a 24-page booklet in the box.

That rare, elusive quality they call "charisma".

2008-11-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

Like the wind, like sunlight, like moonbeam. You cannot capture it between two fingers, you can barely touch it, but it can touch you. And you can see the effect it has on its surroundings.

The pictures you see above are various people who have achieved some measure of fame and admiration around the world. This is not to say that they are all equally accomplished at what they do. Obviously, the great Charlie Chaplin and my beloved Dr.M tower over the rest, in terms of the impact they've had on the world. And the young, fledgling actress Sharifah Amani, my "anak emas", has only just begun her career.

But what they all have is this enigmatic, inexplicable power of attraction called "charisma". You can love them or hate them, but they cannot be ignored.

A few months after Sharifah Amani (Nani) got royally screwed by the Malay press and Rais Yatim for that now infamous award acceptance speech at the FFM, I was searching for an actress with enough charisma to pull off a tough character called Rohani, in what was then to be my next project called "Muallaf".

One evening, I found myself in the grand ballroom of a hotel, attending the wedding dinner of Sharifah Aleya (Leya), Nani's elder sister. One by one, the younger sisters got on stage to dedicate a few words to Leya, wishing her well, and confessing their love for her. It was all very heartwarming, and the bride was visibly moved to tears.

Yana, the youngest, came on first. When she had finished, everyone went, "Awww..."

Leysha, as always, was wise and witty beyond her years.

Finally, it was Nani's turn. Clutching the tail of her glamorous dress, she casually picked up the microphone and surveyed the audience for a few moments, with a menacing grin on her face. There, in attendance, were film luminaries, ministers, dignitaries, tan sris, puan sris, datuks and datins, everyone holding their breath, no doubt recalling that FFM speech she had made, just a few months before. Then Nani began:

"You guys have a lot of guts, letting me hold a microphone again! I bet you're thinking, what the HELL is she going to say now?" The hall rocked with laughter and thunderous applause. I smiled and recalled a judging experience I had in Greece, at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

The head of the jury was a Czech named Jiri Menzel, a 70-year old master who won his first Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the age of 28. My fellow judges included Fred Roos, the producer of "The Godfather", "Apocalypse Now", and "Lost In Translation". We were busy deliberating on the candidates for the Best Actress award for that year.

"That actress internalised her role well," someone said. Someone else said, "But that other actress came across like she really researched the character she was playing." Etcetera, etcetera, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Suddenly, a very bored looking Jiri, who had kept well quiet up to that point, suddenly sat up and took a deep breath. Everyone fell silent.

"When you want to award an actor," his voice boomed across the table, "look for one thing, and one thing only. Charisma!"

Now I was back again at that wedding dinner table in Kuala Lumpur. The audience laughter had just died down. I looked at that little girl on stage, that girl I cast as Orked in "Sepet", when she was barely 17. Having started her speech with a bang, she went on to express her sisterly love to Leya in a way that didn't just touch the elder sister, but the whole hall as well.

That's when I knew I had found my Rohani.

Charisma. It's rare and elusive alright. And my "anak emas" has it by the truck loads. Alhamdulillah.

When "Muallaf" won a Special Mention in Tokyo...

2008-11-24T04:15:00.000-08:00

When "Muallaf" won a Special Mention in Tokyo, some people wrote that this was not something worth celebrating, because it was an insignificant triumph. But I'm not one to discount or dismiss any blessing Allah bestows upon me, however small it may seem to some people.

When "Muallaf" won a Special Mention in Tokyo, I felt vindicated because those very same people once described it as my worst film to date.

When "Muallaf" won a Special Mention in Tokyo, it won in one of my favourite festivals because it was the second one to give me a prize (Best Asian Film for "Sepet" in 2005), and the first to hold a retrospective of my films in 2007.

When "Muallaf" won a Special Mention in Tokyo, it won among stiff competition. And even though it shared the Best Asian-Middle Eastern Special Mention with two other films, those two other films were made by filmmakers I have great respect for -- Jiang Wen and Ann Hui.

When "Muallaf" won a Special Mention in Tokyo, these were the films it was up against:

CROSSING
by Kim Tae-Kyun from Korea

MOZART TOWN
by Jeon Kyu-Hwan from Korea

A TALE OF TWO DONKEYS
by Li Dawei from China

MILKY WAY LIBERATION FRONT
by Yoon Seong-Ho from Korea

THE SUN ALSO RISES
by Jiang Wen from China

TRIVIAL MATTERS
by Pang Ho-Cheung from Hong Kong

THE WAY WE ARE
by Ann Hui from Hong Kong

WINDS OF SEPTEMBER
by Tom Shu-Yu Lin from Taiwan

BEAUTIFUL CRAZY
by Lee Chi Yuarn from Taiwan

FLOWER IN THE POCKET
by Liew Seng Tat from Malaysia

MY MAGIC
by Eric Khoo from Singapore

WONDERFUL TOWN
by Aditya Assarat from Thailand

BLINK
by Ronaldo M. Bertubin from The Philippines

CHAKDE! INDIA
by Shimit Amin from India

THE WALL
by Mohammed Ali Talebi from Iran

SUMMER BOOK
by Seyfi Teoman from Turkey

MY MARLON AND BRANDO
by Huseyin Karabey from Turkey

CARAMEL
by Nadine Labaki from France/Lebanon

LAILA'S BIRTHDAY
by M. Rashid Masharawi from Palestine/Tunisia/Netherlands

When "Muallaf" won a Special Mention in Tokyo, I jumped up and down with joy, muttered "Alhamdulillah" under my breath, and after my solat, pressed my forehead on my prayer mat and thanked God almighty for His generosity.

May I never, EVER be so arrogant as to dismiss His blessings as "small". Na'uzubillah.

"Muallaf" review from John Li of movieXclusive, Singapore.

2008-11-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

"Every once in a while, it is good to appreciate a film which doesn’t bombard you with explosions, car chases, silly slapstick and over the top computer generated effects. The wham bam of things numb our senses so much, we take these hustle and bustle as part of our lives. So when a film which makes us reflect on our inner selves comes along, we realize the impact it has on our well being.

Malaysian filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad’s fifth feature finally makes its way to our busy city to seek audiences who are willing to make an effort to search deep within themselves to realize the true meaning of forgiveness.

After the Orked trilogy (Sepet, Gubra, Mukhsin) which centers on a Malay girl’s trials and tribulations like her interracial relationships and childhood romances, Ahmad writes another provocative story about two Malay sisters staying away from their violent father.

Just when they thought that things were fine in the small town they were staying in, a Chinese teacher with a secret past comes along. He becomes drawn to the sisters’ charismatic personalities and these three troubled souls will soon find solace in each other and understand the meaning of forgiveness.

One can immediately pick out the religious undercurrents with the protagonists being Malay and Chinese. Being a film made in Malaysia, this will definitely evoke some discussions in its home country. We’ve got a Malay woman and a Chinese man being attracted to each other. We’ve got a young girl who has the strange ability to quote from holy books and ancient scriptures. We’ve got a Malay woman acting like a tomboy and working in a nightclub. If these aren’t enough to trigger controversial discussions in Malaysia’s media, we don’t know what will.

There are several themes and subject matters in the film that will set you thinking, that is, if you're prepared to.

First, because the film is set in Malaysia, there are certain contexts and situations which local audiences may not get. Nuances like cultural practices and body movements may alienate the unfamiliar viewer.

Second, the film deals with heavy handed topics which may not be the best things to think about on a difficult day at work.

But that shouldn’t deter you from making sense of this well written story to recognize that although religion cloaks this movie, it is the universal message that love for others creates opportunities for us to forgive and reconcile with ourselves that matters.

Having worked with the director on her three previous films, lead actress Sharifah Amani is evidently comfortable in her role as the protective elder sister who is determined to make a difference in her life. Her real life younger sister Sharifah Aleysha has natural chemistry with her older sister in the film. Brian Yap plays the Chinese teacher with a quiet reluctance which allows viewers to ponder about his troubled character. Also, watch out for performances by “881 Sister” Yeo Yann Yann as a nightclub girl, Malaysian singer Ning Baizura as a flamboyant stepmother, and also fellow Malaysian filmmaker Ho Yuhang.

While these characters are not glamourous and dolled up personalities, they are a true reflection of this thing we call life."

Gasp! Exactly one week before "Muallaf" opens in Singapore, on the 27th of November.

2008-11-19T22:29:00.000-08:00

Before the first opening credits of "Muallaf" appear, before you even hear any sound, these Chinese words fade on, on the extreme right of the screen, quietly, white characters against black.

That's the time my heart started pounding when I saw the film on big screen, for the very first time, at the Pusan International Film Festival in Korea.

Almost throughout the film, my eyes stayed fixed to the screen. Occasionally, my gaze would dart around the cinema theatre, whenever there was the slightest cough or clearing of throat, at the remotest corner of that dark hall.

At the end of the screening, there was applause. I heaved a sigh of relief. (I was told that at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where "Muallaf" won a prize, the applause went on for quite a while.)

Soon, these moments will arrive in Singapore, inshaallah. And my heart starts to pound again, just thinking about it.

May Allah bless our little film. Ameen, ya rabbal aalameen.

If you're in Singapore, please try to catch "Muallaf". But if you're in Kuala Lumpur, please watch this wonderful film below.

2008-11-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

Ho Yuhang (my favourite new wave Malaysian film director), Lorna Tee (one of the best producers in Asia), Affandi (my editor), and Effendy (my producer) just saw this powerful sleeper hit.

"Budak Kelantan" is not going to remain on the cinema circuit much longer, so please, please, please catch it soon. It's the brightest spark in Malaysian cinema we've seen in a long time, with an energy that leaves you with a buzz, long after it's over.

Suffice to say that we left Mid-Valley feeling very happy and hopeful about the future of Malaysian cinema.

Welcome, friends, old and new.

2008-11-18T00:21:00.000-08:00

Salaam to all who come in peace.

Strange things have been happening to the original "The Storyteller" comment box. You cannot access it, let alone read it.

I have an idea what happened, and who was responsible for it, but all that is by the by. And I forgive him, from the bottom of my heart.

From now on, inshaallah, business will go on as usual in this all-new blog of mine.

Introducing "The Storyteller, Part 2". My world of film, art and poetry appreciation. Welcome to it.