Monday, November 13, 2006

Coming to Noo Yawk


Lelaki Komunis Terakhir screens at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on 8 & 9 December. It is part of a programme called Asian Cinevisions which presents, erm, cinema from Asia.

At the risk of coming over all gushy, New York is my favourite city and the place where I first fooled around with the idea of making films. I took a course in NYU in the summer of 1995 and directed five 16mm shorts (I got a D for the first and an A for the last). In addition I managed to watch over 90 films not only at the NYU library but at places like Film Forum, the Angelika, the Anthology and, yes, MOMA.

I would never have gone there if I hadn't met and interviewed U-Wei Haji Saari in Malaysa two years before that in Kuala Lumpur. He had studied film in New York in the 1980s. His first feature film had just come out and he became the first person to make me realise that making films could be something I'd want to pursue.

I visited the city again this summer (the first time this century) to find that although much had changed (Times Square now seems like Disneyland), the old buzz was still there and the service staff as reassuringly rude as ever.

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is so sad that we who live in Malaysia are unable (legally) to see one of the most important films produced by this country, when the salacious and violent produce of Hollywood is spewed onto the cinema screens, all CGI and no content.

A sad indictment of paternal politics and govermental immaturity.

Keep em comin and maybe one day the children of Malaysia may actually be able to see what the rest of the world can already see.

1:51 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

amir,

Congrats and well done!

I'm in Melbourne and would like to buy the DVD. Any idea if there are stockists here or can I buy it online somewhere?

Cheers.

9:00 am  
Blogger Amir Muhammad said...

Worldwide online sales should begin in about 2 weeks. Details of course will be posted here.

11:23 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ace! Thanks Amir and keep up the good work. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

1:38 pm  
Blogger Amir Muhammad said...

By the way, this is the angriest response I have ever received for my NST columns.

11:09 pm  
Blogger dreameridiot said...

Out of topic with this post, I was alerted by Sharon (at her blog) on your recent column. I had my mind totally blown away.... You are a total genius.

PS. I hardly read the NST, since mu family don't subscribe to it, but now I must remember to check it out for your columns.

11:42 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I understand that Mr Mohan also wishes to take Mattel's Barbie dolls off the shelves, for a similar linguistic reason.

All I can say is Salam to his association Malas and hope that Ambi Mohan does not continue to ban any more people with M in their surname.

2:35 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Amir, congrats on NY. I'm a Singaporean living in, well, Singapore, and I've been trying to hunt down your previous films for years to no avail. Any tips on where I should look?

I haven't stepped into HMV for almost a year but now that I know The Last Communist is being stocked there I'm making it my first stop on my next trip to town.

5:52 pm  
Blogger Amir Muhammad said...

Hello Yasmine

Some DVDs are indeed available and the links are on the right of this page.

And here's a tip: In Kinokuniya the DVD is $2 cheaper!

1:06 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chin Peng, the last communist, fights to go home.

1:08 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wrong. THE LAST COMMUNIST screened in London with no problems.

6:26 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://phimvasao.com/phim-vien-tuong.html
http://phimvasao.com/phim-chien-tranh.html

6:09 pm  

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