Why Some of Malaysia’s Best Films Aren’t Shown in Malaysia
The Malaysian authorities quietly presented the director Amanda Nell Eu with an ultimatum: They would submit her film “Tiger Stripes” to the 2024 Academy Awards only if scenes they deemed inappropriate were cut for local audiences.
“Tiger Stripes,” which follows a rebellious girl who gets her period, was riding high after winning the grand prize at the 2023 Cannes Critics’ Week. It needed a theatrical run in Malaysia of at least seven days to become eligible for the Oscars. So Eu agreed, reluctantly, but publicly denounced the domestic version.
Eu, 39, said in a recent interview that her film is about a young girl’s fight for the freedom to express herself, and that the cuts for the domestic release destroyed its essence.
“That joy, that beauty of the film, was gone,” she said over coffee and cigarettes in Kuala Lumpur, the capital.
Her experience points to an awkward paradox: Even as the Malaysian government lauds local films that win praise and prizes abroad, some of the most-celebrated ones are either not shown in domestic theaters or are heavily censored.