Amir Muhammad (director)

Amir Muhammad (born 5 December 1972) is a Malaysian writer and independent filmmaker.

Life and career

He was born on 5 December 1972 in Kuala Lumpur to civil servant Muhammad Abdullah and housewife Asiah Kechik. He was educated at the University of East Anglia with a degree in Law, though he never did his bar but rather worked in his sponsoring company's legal company for nine months.

He had also written for Malaysian print media since the age of 14, notably the New Straits Times, where he had worked there as a part timer under several editors. He had a dedicated column there from 1995 until it was stopped in 1999 during the general elections as the column was considered to be "unhelpful to the government in its bid to win the elections."

Amir took up filmmaking on the encouragement of film director U-Wei Haji Saari after interviewing the latter during his part-time job as the latter's film ''Perempuan, Isteri Dan...?'' was released in 1993. In 2000, he wrote and directed Malaysia's first DV feature. Some of his works have also been featured in a number of international film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. Two of his films, Apa Khabar Orang Kampung and '' The Last Communist'' have been banned in Malaysia. A full retrospective of his work was screened at the 2008 Pesaro Film Festival, Italy. He is a partner at Da Huang Pictures.

He also publishes books under his companies Matahari Books