Eli Benjamin once said, "you have to have VISION, GUT & PASSION".
I had to agree with that. And I reckon Yasmin Ahmad is a firm practitioner of the above three. Which is why her movies, apart from being very personal in their views of the world, represent her vision of what should transpire in our society, clearly demonstrating her chutzpah and fortitude in breaking the norms of Malay Moviemaking, and above all, showing to the world how wonderfully talented and passionate she is in doing what she loves best - telling stories.
The fact that she had won the Best Picture award two years in a row (in the Malaysian Film Festival) proved not just my points, but also the fact that other people are weighting her movies far and above her counterparts.
Last year, "they" quarreled over Sepet and Puteri Gunung Ledang - obviously one was produced with the most limited of budget and the other superseding the standard financial outlays. And of course, one was clearly stronger in substance and the other immaculate in style. And the winner was of course ... Sepet.
It reminded me of the year when A Beautiful Mind beat The Lord of The Rings to the podium, or earlier when Driving Miss Daisy became the best film. It was when the juries decided that a small film could deliver better messages compared to a bigger blockbuster. There's nothing wrong with that.
And again, this year, when Gubra was announced as the winner again (making Yasmin one of the rare winners to repeat her victory twice in a row - the other luminaries include Dato' Rahim Razali when he won for Matinya Seorang Patriot and Tsu-Feh Sofiah), "they" once again mumbled and complained.
Frankly, and personally, no other films deserve to win that night. The closest nominee was Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam 2 (PHSM 2) and Gol & Gincu. While Pontianak was technically superior, Gol & Gincu was too light hearted, albeit a well made film with wonderful story telling and deft scriptwriting.
Probably, "they" were referring more to Amani's acceptance speech. That might have convoluted "their" minds and caused a little scar to Gubra's perfect pitch. No one should argue the fact that Amani deserved her trophy but she was deemed too brave or gutsy in her speech delivery. That have caused a lot of uneasiness especially among the elder crowd.
But the rest of the awards - no qualms. Afdlin, Hans and Sazzy were probably the best options in their categories. And Shuhaimi Baba as Best Director, was in lieu of her technical achievement in producing PHSM 2. And when they announced Baik Punya Cilok as the winner of the Best Story category, I felt that it was very encouraging to see that the current juries are running away from the typical run-of-the-mill manner of voting.
It proves again my point - there is nothing wrong in being bold and courageous. You just have to appeal to the public and do it not just in style but with a lot of substance.
