| Across the Miles: Spotlight's on Amir Muhammad |
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Across the Miles
For some, it's just been a few months. For others, it's been several years since they've left Malaysia for the United States. Some are here temporarily for school, while others have sought permanent residence. Regardless of the length of time spent here, many still see Malaysia as their first home and may experience bouts of homesickness. That's why we've started a new column in our newsletter entitled, "Across the Miles."
We'd like to build that bridge to Malaysia through this column. Be it a profile of a celebrity or a heart surgeon, a review of a favorite hawker stall, a story of a Malaysian entrepreneur or a new mall in Kuala Lumpur, we're featuring stories from good ol' Malaysia. If you've a story idea, contact or news lead you'd like to share with us, please e-mail it to
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And to begin our maiden voyage, we're featuring a profile on Amir Muhammad. Who is he? Well, you'll just have to read more to find out....
Spotlight's on Amir Muhammad
He is a publisher, writer and filmmaker. And a witty, sometimes controversial, one at that too.
He is Amir Muhammad.
"Growing up, I think I wanted to be a fireman. A teacher had to speak to me about my lack of ambition," said Amir, who began writing for the New Straits Times, one of Malaysia's leading newspapers, at the tender age of 14. "I enjoyed reading so I knew I wanted to write. The film-making came a bit later because I didn't actually watch so many films growing up. I was never unduly pressured to be part of the norm."
Born a year before P. Ramlee died (not that he is copping any blame), Amir went to a primary school within walking distance from Bank Negara, not that it was for feng shui reasons, or so he says. "(I went to a) secondary school named after a British monarch, although I remain a republican. English university -University of East Anglia (as revealed by a Google search) internationally famous for its writing course, but I did law instead," said Amir ambiguously, when asked about his background. "I also did film courses in New York because I wanted to do film and I wanted to go to New York."
Now a publisher for his company Matahari Books, and a partner of Da Huang of pictures, Amir's works have been featured in several international festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and most recently, the International Film Festival Rotterdam. He has also won several accolades for "The Big Durian" at the Yamagata International Documentary Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival, and for "6horts #1: Lost" at the Singapore International Film Festival.
In 2005, Amir was in the Bay Area for the San Francisco Film Festival. Some may remember attending a panel discussion with Amir as one of the speakers on "Malaysian Cinema: A New Independence?" and his encouragement of buying pirated DVDs. Asked if he thought it was indeed a new independence, he said, "Terms like those are only used for panel discussions. People who make films and live the life don't bother about such labels. Anyone who makes the films they want to make, on their terms, is independent. In real life, such complete freedom is not only rare but probably not helpful, because film-making is a collaborative effort."
Amir who hasn't been back to San Francisco since, enjoyed the city while he was here. "I loved San Francisco because it was like being in the film 'Vertigo!'" he said. "It's also pleasant to walk around. I was supposed to give a talk in Berkeley in April but I turned it down because I have to finish writing my next book, "120 Malay Movies." I am also working on my first collection of short stories, after years of saying I don't write fiction!"
While his favorite movies apparently evolve all the time, at the moment, his favorite Malaysia movie is P. Ramlee's "Gelora" (1970), which he saw in Paris (unavailable in Malaysia). And among his favorite neighboring country films: "Mysterious Object at Noon" (Thailand), "Perfumed Nightmare" (The Philippines) and "Eliana, Eliana" (Indonesia).
To add to his plate, Amir recently authored "Yasmin Ahmad's Films." Yasmin was a renowned Malaysian filmmaker with credits such as "Sepet" (featured at the SF Film Festival 2005), "Gubra" and most recently, "Talentime" and "Muallaf." "Yasmin Ahmad's films" was written as a result of Amir having sleepless nights after her funeral, watching all her films again and an effort to continue conversations with her and making sure she stayed in the present tense a bit longer.
"Mukhsin was my favorite Yasmin Ahmad movie because she balanced the bitter and the sweet particularly well, and so the film became 'light' in both senses of the word," said Amir, who has no role models because one shouldn't be limited. "The funny thing is that many people claim to be Yasmin's huge fans but they only ever saw "Sepet." This might be because many Chinese Malaysians in particular, loved the idea of a Chinese hero, so their reason for liking the film is, ironically, tainted by many not being able to look beyond their own race - which is, I suppose, the Malaysian dilemma."
Yasmin, whom Amir described as "beautiful, brainy, ballsy, bratty, beatific and sometimes bonkers," unfortunately passed away last year of a stroke and brain hemorrhage, at only 51.
Amir recently returned from the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where his documentary, "Malaysian Gods," was screened. Due to the topics and content of it and also "The Last Communist," they are controversial in Malaysia, but Amir seems unruffled by it all. "I don't actually worry about what 'Malaysia' (as an abstract entity) is afraid of. There are many different Malaysias, even within the establishment," said Amir. "I just try to do what interests me because, at the end of the day, that's the only thing I should be accountable for. What's the prayer again? 'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference!"
Ask Amir to describe himself in a few words, and he replied, in true Amir-style, "Laconic." His advice to those who want to follow in his footsteps, "If you really want it, you'll go out and do it. But doctors are still more important than filmmakers."
To read more about Amir, visit his blog at http://amirmu.blogspot.com/
by Angela Woon |
