Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — For 12-year-old Zaffan (played by Zafreen Zairizal), going through puberty is literally a beast. When he discovers that his body is transforming in terrifying ways and is cast aside by his community, Zaffan has no choice but to accept his true self, revealing his beauty, anger and power to all.
Amanda Nell Eu is reluctant to reveal too much of the Tiger Stripes plot, but her first feature mixes teen 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 woman from Malaysia. 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 U-Wei Saari’s Kaki Bakar (The Arsonist, 1995), Chris Chong Chan Fui’s Karaoke (2009) and The Tiger Factory (2010). by Woo Mingjin.
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 program dedicated to discovering first and second feature films from around the world. It’s where acclaimed directors like Wong Kar-wai, Guillermo del Toro, Ken Loach and Gaspar Noé got their start.
“I feel very honored. It’s what the team and I have been dreaming of. I don’t think anyone is ready for that 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 the themes and messages of Tiger Stripes resonate with many people and that they also enjoy the journey the film takes you on.”
Nell Eu had the idea for Tiger Stripes in early 2018 and did much of the development work over the next two years. “We did a lot of labs and workshops and then we ended up going to international markets as well,” she said.
After the COVID-19 pandemic halted work on the project for around two years, the team finally shot the film in 2022 in the wilds of Selangor state, east of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. It stars veteran Malaysian actors Shaheizy Sam (Polis Evo 3, 2023), June Lojong (Roh, 2019) and Fatimah Abu Bakar (Imaginur, 2022), as well as a trio of talented young first-time actresses: Zafreen, Deena Ezral and Piqa, who play the three Malay girls from a rural community.
Produced by Foo Fei Ling for Kuala Lumpur independent film company Ghost Grrrl Productions that he co-founded with Nell Eu, Tiger Stripes is a Malaysian, Indonesian, Singaporean, Taiwanese, French, German, Dutch and Qatari co-production.
It was a decision that was prompted in part by knowing that the Malaysian Film Censorship Board can be tough on creative works that touch on the most sensitive issues of the multicultural nation, from ethnicity to religion. Islam is the official religion of Malaysia and is followed by more than half of the population.
“As a filmmaker, I totally understand the issues of censorship and I really tried not to let that get in the way of me, especially when writing the script and making the movie,” said Nell Eu.
“Preserving the filmmaker’s vision, especially on a debut project, is always my primary mission as a producer,” Foo said. “However, producing a debut is not easy. That’s why we have co-productions with various other countries, so we can say whatever we want.”
feminist body horrors
Nell Eu says that she is obsessed with horror, feminism and female monsters, all themes that Tiger Stripes share with their previous two short films. Her 2017 debut, Lagi Senang Jaga Sekandang Lembu (It’s Easier to Raise Cattle), premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and centered on the friendship between two marginalized teenagers in a remote village.
Her second short, Vinegar Baths (2018), tells the story of an overworked maternity ward nurse who is happiest when she wanders the hospital corridors at night and is finally able to eat. It won several festival awards, including Best Film in the Scream Asia Horror Shorts competition.
“I’m a big fan of body horror. I find it fascinating,” Nell Eu told Al Jazeera, citing Canadian genre stalwart director David Cronenberg and Shinya Tsukamoto, the Japanese director of the visionary Tetsuo: the Iron Man (1989), among his early influences.
“Creatively, I try to listen to my body more than my thoughts, and when I make decisions, it’s my gut, how my heart feels, and what drives me toward something,” said Nell Eu.
The idea for Tiger Stripes developed from her memories of puberty, a time when the director says she “felt like a monster” when her body changed and she didn’t like anyone looking at her.
“I think that every human being is afraid of his own body at some point in his life. So yeah, in my dark sense of humor, what if the protagonist actually turned into a monster?
To achieve this vision, Tiger Stripes uses an abundance of special effects, makeup, and stage props in the tradition of old-school monster movies.
“The challenge is that that means five hours of application and that was very difficult, especially since we were shooting in a tropical climate, which is the worst environment to do special effects and makeup,” said Nell Eu.
Zaffan’s body modifications were brought to life by a team that includes experienced makeup artists such as June Goh from Singapore and Dutch artist Rogier Samuels, who has also worked on international films such as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Frontier and X.
“Just think of the challenge for (actress) Zafreen, sweating on the inside, and when you take the accessories off, you see steam coming out… I’m very impressed with her. She was so brave and she was into it. Her effort is truly amazing,” said Nell Eu.
Punk Rock Meets Asian Monsters
The name of Tiger Stripes’ production company, Ghost Grrrl Productions, which Foo and Nell Eu co-founded, pays homage to the feminist movement Riot Grrrl, a spin on women’s empowerment in the underground punk rock subculture that developed in the United States. Joined. Pacific Northwest since the 1990s.
Their independent do-it-yourself values inspired Nell Eu and Foo to pick production teammates, make decisions and make “a movie that I think is quite punk rock,” said Nell Eu.
Ghost Grrrl seeks to amplify the voices of strong, feared and misunderstood women in film, specifically from Southeast Asia. “We are both women, we are both very feminist, and we believe very much 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-led horror films is its setting, which vehemently reclaims and questions the rich spooky 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,” Foo said. “Even as a kid, I would watch Hong Kong and Hollywood horror movies before I went to sleep and the scariest monster was always a woman.”
Nell Eu says she’s a big fan of the pontianak (or kuntilanak in Indonesian), the vampiric ghost of a woman who died in childbirth, found in Maritime Southeast Asian folklore.
“To me, (the pontianak) is strong and powerful, the perfect embodiment of a feminist,” said Nell Eu. “I am inspired by these figures in our histories and culture and use them for inspiration.”
But at the same time, the director does not intend to pigeonhole herself in any genre or trend, although she is a fan of the new wave of horror in Southeast Asia, especially films by Indonesian directors such as Joko Anwar, Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto. , which are winning accolades on subscription streaming services around the world.
Nell Eu says it’s not her place to say where she fits in or if the Tiger Stripes will ride that wave.
“I have always felt that this is a very personal story and from that personal feeling it becomes universal. After launch, we’ll see what people’s feedback and reactions are, so it’s too early 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 colorful and there was so much going on,” she said. “Rest assured, there will still be gender and there will still be blood.”