''Malaysian Gods'' is a 2009

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 political

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by Amir Muhammad and produced by Da Huang Pictures. Although not fully banned (unlike the director's last two documentaries), the Malaysian Film Censorship Board disallowed it from screening in cinemas and on TV. It thus was screened on college campuses and at private venues. It then premiered on 18 April 2009 at the 22nd

Singapore International Film Festival The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore. Founded in 1987, the festival has a focus on showcasing international films and providing a global platform for ...

and was then shown at various other festivals, including

Rotterdam International film festival The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

and

Dubai international film festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announce ...

the same year, the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

in 2010 and La Casa Incendida in 2012.

Content

In September 1998,

Anwar Ibrahim Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...

was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister of

. His expulsion and subsequent trial for corruption and

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodo ...

triggered a wave of street protests by his supporters and those who were against the authoritarian rule of the government of Dr.

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

. The label for this movement and era was ' reformasi' (reformation). ''Malaysian Gods'' takes a look at several pivotal protests that took place in the year following his sacking. It eschews archive footage in favour of interviews with people who are living, working in or visiting the actual locations of the demonstrations, about a decade later. All the interviews are done in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

, the main language of the smallest of the three major ethnic groups. What do people now have to say about their lives, hopes and dreams? And have the socio-political markers of Malaysian society changed all that much since then?

Production information

* Amir Muhammad ... Writer/Director/Producer * Tan Chui Mui ... Executive Producer * Shan ... Director of Photography * MS Prem Nath ... Editor * Closing song by Couple. * Duration: 70 min * Budget: RM25,000

Reception and analysis

"The title of this documentary, banned in its home country, refers to the unhealthy way in which Malaysians look at their (currently ruling) politicians." The film "commemorates the decade after the Reformasi movement".

References

External links

*
''Malaysian Gods''
at Da Huang Pictures. Tamil-language Malaysian films 2009 films Malaysian political films Malaysian documentary films 2000s Tamil-language films 2000s Indian films Films about freedom of expression Films directed by Amir Muhammad Films produced by Amir Muhammad Malaysian independent films 2009 independent films Da Huang Pictures films Films with screenplays by Amir Muhammad 2009 documentary films {{2000s-documentary-film-stub