Sunday 1 March 2009

Entries closed

Entries are now closed for Body 2 Body, Malaysia's first queer anthology. We received 59 submissions. If you want to get mathematical about it, this is 47.5% more than our target. Almost half the entries were sent on the last 2 days.

Thank you for your stories and essays! The deadline will not be extended.

The two editors, Jerome Kugan and Pang Khee Teik (as quoted in Time.com!) will now select their 20 favourite entries. The identities of the writers have been hidden from them, so it will be interesting to see who gets picked.

The writers will be informed in about a month. Looks like we are on track for a launch in early August, so wish us luck! I trust that this ground-breaking anthology will drop a few jaws, melt a few hearts, and quicken a few pulses -- and that's just the Introduction.

4 comments:

Syud Ridzuan said...

Hi Amir, I found ur blog and kinda suprised that you are actually the Amir Muhammad. Woohooo!!

Im currently doing an assignment on your movie, Susuk and I have some questions on the movie and although I hv my own theories on it, I just want to clarify some things with you (if you don't mind la..hehehe)

Here's the qs :)

1. During the concert (where Rozana and Mona sing the 'Jentayu' song) Do you used the song because you want to portray the immortality of the bird in which it also portrays the eternal beauty of both women?

2. Can I ask why you used ayam kampung (if i'm not mistaken) in every murder scenes? Is it because ayam kampung is lagi kental than ayam bandar? (jokes!). Seriously, I still do not understand the ayam kampung part...sorry sorry sorry.

3. And talking about the murder scene, why most of the victims are women? is it because Suraya is jealous or insecure or something?

Anyway, kudos to you! Really really really love Susuk!

Good luck with your next productions!

Sorry for bothering you (T___T)

Thank you for your cooperation. :)

*big smile and hug*

Anonymous said...

Did you get to read the entries submitted? How are they?

Amir Muhammad said...

Hello Syud!

1. To be honest the song I wanted was 'Tiru Macam Saya.' The actresses even memorised this. But at the last minute the studio had an agreement to work with Warner Music rather than EMI. So I picked 'Jentayu' out of the available songs; it's a tribute to female strength, so it might be seen as ironic because Soraya who's listening feels she is incomplete as a woman/human.

2. Because Soraya doesn't want to be an 'ayam kampung' anymore ;-) We saw the chickens being fed by her mother.

3. It's just a reference to diva competitiveness. The whole movie is my take on "All About Eve", so it's not surprising that some people complained it's not scary enough!

Amir Muhammad said...

Jit! I promised myself I wouldn't read any, but I couldn't help myself, since there were so many writers whose previous work I loved (and who have been published in other recent anthologies) and I am very happy indeed :-)