Tiger Stripes, the debut feature film of Malaysian filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu, has been chosen to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s International Critics’ Week section this May.
The Malay-language horror film is a collaboration between Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Singapore. Akanga Film Asia, based in Singapore, is one of the producers, and its funding includes a Southeast Asia Co-Production Grant from the Singapore Film Commission.
Sound designer Lim Ting Li and character design and special effects make-up supervisor June Goh are two Singaporeans that worked on the film.
Malaysian actress Zafreen Zairizal plays Zaffan, a 12-year-old going through puberty who finds horrifying facts about her bodily changes in Tiger Stripes.
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Eu is Malaysia’s first female film director to be invited to Cannes. The International Critics’ Week portion will run concurrently with the main event from May 17 to 25, 2023.
Singapore filmmakers Boo Junfeng for the drama Sandcastle (2010) and K. Rajagopal for the drama A Yellow Bird (2016) have previously been invited to Critics’ Week.
Eu graduated from the London Film School with a master’s degree in filmmaking. Her 2017 short film, Lagi Senang Jaga Sekandang Lembu (It’s Easier To Raise Cattle), about the friendship of two teens in a rural, opened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival.
Tiger Stripes is described as a “deeply personal and sensitive story” by Akanga Film Asia producer Fran Borgia.
“We are extremely proud to be a part of this international co-production and to be able to accompany the film to its Cannes premiere.”
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