''Bukak Api'' is a 2000 documentary about

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n '' mak nyahs'', or

trans women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

, directed by Osman Ali. It was intended to educate people about the ''mak nyahs''.Hock,

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Background

Ali was not a known film director in Malaysia at the time of the film's creation . Malaysian sex workers use the words "bukak api" to refer to a sexual act; the words literally mean "to open fire".

Content

The film includes several elements that are not allowed according to Malaysian censorship laws, including "

fuck ''Fuck'' is an English-language expletive. It often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to aro ...

", other forms of

profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

, scenes that have people almost naked, and sex scenes. Andrew Hock Soon Ng, the author of "The Politics of Reclaiming Identity: Representing the ''Mak Nyahs'' in ''Bukak Api''", wrote that including these elements reflects the realities of male-to-female transgender people in Malaysia.Hock,

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Hock wrote that the film countered the common depiction of transsexualism in Malaysian television and other media as being "comical".

Cast

* Mislina Mustaffa as Murni

Release and reception

Kuala Lumpur authorities banned the film from screening in regular cinemas. Hock wrote that "allegedly" the rationale was due to the film's depiction of Kuala Lumpur's nightlife, but he believed that the authorities also disliked how the film "dignifies" and "sympathetically portrays" workers in the sex industry and ''mak nyahs''. However, the film was screened in film festivals, including the KL Freedom Film Festival and ones in Egypt, France, New Zealand, and Singapore. G.C. Khoo, author of "Urban Geography as Pretext: Sociological Landscapes of Kuala Lumpur in Independent Malaysian Films", wrote that the film screenings caused ''Bukak Api'' to get broader audiences beyond its original intentions. Many film reviews from Malaysia and other countries characterised ''Bukak Api'' as a "brave" film.

References

* Hock, Andrew Soon Ng. "The Politics of Reclaiming Identity: Representing the ''Mak Nyahs'' in ''Bukak Api''" (Chapter 7). In: Pullen, Christopher. ''LGBT Transnational Identity and the Media''.

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. 29 February 2012. , 9780230353510.

Notes

External links

* 2000 films 2000 LGBT-related films Malaysian LGBT-related films Transgender-related documentary films Films directed by Osman Ali Films about trans women {{Malaysia-film-stub