“20 Years Work Destroyed”: Award-winning Malaysian Director Laments The Pirating Of His Film
The Story of Southern Islet was only completed in December 2019, right before the pandemic began.
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Award-winning Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun was devastated to learn that his film, which took 20 years to produce, has been pirated online.
In an open letter, Chong lamented that the film had been uploaded online on 28 August 2021. On that day, The Story of Southern Islet was trending on Weibo (a Chinese micro-blogging site similar to Twitter), with plenty of discussion and sharing of the film.
The director and his team went on to investigate, and were devastated to learn that their hard work had been recorded and uploaded to a movie streaming website.
The Story of Southern Islet took 20 years to complete, says Chong. He and his team has been working on the film since 2000, from surveying locations and interviewing locals, to the script-writing and filming and editing. They only completed the film in December 2019.
Unfortunately, two months later, Covid-19 forced all cinemas to close globally– especially in Malaysia, where cinemas have been closed for almost the entire time.
It may have taken mere hours to illegally record and upload the film, but that destroyed 20 years of hard work. After this, even talks to host the film on legitimate streaming platforms have been impacted.
Chong Keat Aun in his open letter
Chong pleaded with the pirates to take down the film, asking that they allow film-afficionados a chance to watch it on the big screen when it is safe to do so.
A stunning Malaysian tale of Southeast Asia and curses
The film had won the Golden Horse Awards in November last year.
READ MORE: Malaysian Director Wins Golden Horse Awards For Debut Movie About Southeast Asian Curses
(Credit: The Golden Horse Film Festival)
The Story of Southern Islet is a semi-autobiography about a Chinese-Malaysian couple who tries to remove a curse placed upon the husband. To do so, the wife journeys across Southeast Asia, learning about the spiritual beliefs of different ethnic groups.
The film has received much praise for its unique topic and great storytelling.
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