Malaysian Productions Heading To The Oscars!

The Academy Awards aka the Oscars are one of, if not the most prestigious awards ceremony in the world. Every year, the golden sculpture is awarded to honour the best feature films and performances in the entertainment industry worldwide.

It sure seems like we have a shot at next year’s Oscars with two Malaysian productions in the running for the awards!

M for Malaysia

The feature documentary on the historic 14^th Malaysian General Elections has been submitted to the Academy as a contender in the International Feature Film category for the 2020 Oscars.

Co-directed by the current Prime Minister’s granddaughter, Ineza Roussille and Dian Lee, the documentary received rave reviews for its depiction of political maven, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s comeback into Malaysian politics under ‘The Alliance of Hope’ (Pakatan Harapan) in the 2018 General Elections, overthrowing the previous ruling party, Barisan Nasional for the first time in 60 years.

Ineza, in a statement published in The News Straits Times said, “I’m very proud that M For Malaysia will be representing Malaysia (at the ceremony which is happening on Feb 9), I hope that this nomination would open more doors for local documentaries to be accepted beyond our borders.”

Among the serious contenders vying to claim the Oscar in the Best Foreign Film cateogory, according to The Hollywood Reporter, include ‘Parasite’ (South Korea), ‘Pain and Glory’ (Spain), ‘Les Misérables’ (France), and ‘Atlantics’ (Senegal).

The shortlisted nominees of the top 10 films in the category will be announced on 16 December.

Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal (The Lone Gibbon Kris)

The Malaysian animated series, Upin & Ipin’s latest animated film titled “Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal” has officially been included in the long contended list of potential nominees in the Best Animated Film category for the Oscars next year.

“Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal is listed together with 32 international animation films for 2020 Oscar nomination. Thank you, Malaysians for the extraordinary support for the movie,” shared the producers of the film on Instagram.

While this calls for a celebration, the iconic duo is set to face some fierce competition, going up against other blockbuster animation films like Toy Story 4, The Angry Birds Movie 2, The Secret Life of Pets and Frozen 2.

This awesome news comes after the film’s commercial success, garnering over RM 25 million at the local box office just after three weeks of screening.

The film was also awarded the Best Feature Film at the Montreal International Animation Film Festival 2019.

Read: Upin & Ipin Win Big At International Animation Film Festival

Apart from Canada, our local production was a crowd favourite in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and India.

All the best to our Malaysian productions heading to the Oscars! 

 

*Featured image sourced from mformalaysia.com/Facebook-Upin & Ipin