Tuesday 22 September 2009

Invitation to write one sentence in YASMIN AHMAD'S FILMS


My book Yasmin Ahmad's Films will be available in November. It's my impressions of watching all 6 of her feature-length films, as well as many commercials, in the month of September. It's not an obituary, neither is it a conventional book of film criticism.

We are currently proofreading the manuscript, and it suddenly occurs to me that it would be nice to have the final pages of the book given over to other people's views. People who have watched and been touched, excited, tickled, by the films. (Think of this as the 'viewer's version' of the coda at the end of MUKHSIN).

So I'd like you to have your say! Please write one sentence on any one of her 6 long films:

- RABUN
- SEPET
- GUBRA
- MUKHSIN
- MUALLAF
- TALENTIME

I think each film will have 1 page, and I will try to cram in as many views as I can. Write about a specific scene, or dialogue, or performance, or the entire film. Write about how it made you feel, or how it related to you, or analyse why it works (or maybe doesn't work) for you.

Some ground rules:
1. The sentence can be in any of the languages used in the films.
2. The sentence should not be more than 20 words. If you are writing in Chinese, then no more than 20 Chinese characters.
3. Send ONLY by email to matahari.books@gmail.com with the heading MY SENTENCE, together with your name and location. Let's make this international!
4. Deadline for submission: 30 September noon (Malaysian time).
5. You can send in more than one sentence, but I will choose one per person.

Due to space constraints, I may not be able to print all the sentences. But here's a hint: try not to pick one of the more 'popular' films, and you might have a better chance lah.

We haven't decided on the retail price of the book yet. But all my writer royalties from the first edition will be donated to the
Mercy - Yasmin Ahmad Fund for Children.

A 'teaser' of sorts for the book is my article for the Canadian magazine
Cinema Scope here.

Wednesday 16 September 2009

The cover

I don't want to say too much about the book for now. But a free copy goes to the first person who can correctly guess why I chose this particular image for the cover.

This offer is brought to you by the fact that it's Malaysia Day!

* Design by Alexdrina Chong

Tuesday 15 September 2009

My article in Cinema Scope


Cinema Scope is this rather serious (but frequently gossipy) film magazine based in Canada. I have an article in the current issue. The magazine isn't available in Malaysia (as far as I know) but my article is one of those that can be read online for free free free!

Personally, I'd love to read the piece on Guru Dutt as he's one of my favourite filmmakers of all time. But that one's not online, cis! So I'll have to wait for my copy to wing it from Winnipeg, or wherever they're sending it from.

Tuesday 8 September 2009

The first book to mention (and visually reference on the cover?) BODY 2 BODY


Those of you who have Body 2 Body will, of course, remember Thiam Chin's S & M - tinged story Good Job. It's one of the highlights! Now he has his own collection, which I look forward to getting.