Tiger Stripes Director Disapproves Of Cut For Malaysian Cinemas

Director Amanda Nell Eu is disappointed that Malaysians will not be able to watch her final version of the film in cinemas.

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter, or Telegram and WhatsApp channels for the latest stories and updates.

Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu is grateful that her film, Tiger Stripes is receiving love from local audiences. For one, her award-winning film just premiered in local cinemas yesterday.

While she is very pleased with that, the filmmaker is not happy with the version that is currently being screened to local audiences. In an Instagram post, she explained that it is because it strays away from her original version of the film.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Amanda Nell Eu (@nelleu)

“I have to say that I do not stand behind the cut that will be shown in local cinemas. Living as an artist and a filmmaker in Malaysia, we are all used to having our work and voice censored.

“While I am not here to attack the censorship board, I am here to state that the film that will be shown in local cinemas is not the film that we made, and it is not the film that won the Grand Prize of Critics Week in Cannes,” she added.

She further explained that the part that got censored was meant to reflect the joy of being a young girl in Malaysia – the experience of being misunderstood for expressing herself differently yet still fighting for her existence in this world.

According to Eu, this was among the highlights that she hoped her priority audiences (Malaysians) would have connected to. Hence, she and her production company, Ghost Grrrl Pictures found it regrettable that they “had to be censored from public view.”

“Although we respect different opinions and sensitivities in our country, we wish that we had more freedom to discuss things openly and not quickly punish each other, or have to hide away from things that we are afraid of,” said Eu who became the first female Malaysian director to be invited to Cannes.

As such, she along with her production house will fight and continue to find alternative ways for Malaysian audiences to legally watch the uncensored version of the movie in the near future.

She then ended her statement by thanking fans for all the support that they have shown to the movie. She also expressed her gratitude for the movie being chosen as Malaysia’s official contender for the Oscars next year.

Local masterpiece

This is certainly disheartening to hear especially since the movie has been so well received internationally. Aside from the Oscar-contending position, Tiger Stripes also won several international accolades.

Earlier this May, the film was picked as the winner of the Grand Prix Award at the 62nd Semaine de la Critique during the 76th Cannes Film Festival in France.

In July, it also won a Special Jury Mention in the First Feature Film category at the 27th Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada.

Although the motion picture is already being screened at local cinemas, we do hope that there will be alternative methods to show Malaysians the uncensored and unedited version of the film – the one Eu envisioned.

Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Threads.