Amanda Nell Eu personifies the modern Malaysian multi-hyphenate; filmmaker, director, part-time lecturer, and full-time mother to two adorable felines. But now, she can add Cannes winner to that list after it was recently announced that her debut feature film, Tiger Stripes, has officially nabbed the Grand Jury Prize during this year’s 62nd Cannes International Critics Week.
The announcement broke cover over her Instagram page, where she shared with effervescent enthusiasm how Tiger Stripes was selected out of 7 other films in competition for the accolade. Amanda will also take home prize money amounting to €10,000 (MYR 49,400) for the achievement. What is most impressive is how the homegrown film happens to also be Amanda’s debut feature film project, produced under her own production company, Ghost Grrrl Pictures.
Tiger Stripes: A bold, irreverent effort
Starring a completely fresh triumvirate of local talents that include Zafreen Zairizal, Deena Ezral and Piqa, the film delves into the life of a 12-year-old girl who is ostracrised from her local community after undergoing an alarming process of metamorphosis, which leads her to eventually discover and embrace her true sense of self.
Founded in 1962, the Semaine de la Critique is a sidebar event that is held specifically for first and second films, with Tiger Stripes being the fourth-ever local effort to be screened there since 2010.
This year’s Critics’ Week jury president Audrey Diwan, of Happenings fame told ScreenDaily magazine that the film impressed with a bold sense of audaciousness, saying “Irreverent and uncompromising, Tiger Stripes does not try to please, it is content to fully assume its seductive singularity. It was the first film of the selection that we saw. It has passed the test of time,”
The last Malaysian film to be screened at International Critic’s Week was Woo Ming Jin’s The Tiger Factory.
Rosé And Other Asian Celebrities Who Walked The 2023 Cannes Film Festival Red Carpet
Feature and hero image credits: GHOST GRRRL PICTURES, @nelleu/Instagram
This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Kuala Lumpur
