Malaysia’s Ghost Grrrl Pictures’ debut feature film Tiger Stripes, directed by Amanda Nell Eu and produced by Foo Fei Ling, has been selected for the coveted Cannes Critics’ Week, which is a parallel section of the prestigious 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The 62nd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, which is focused on first and second-time works, unfolds from 17 to 25 May 2023. Critics’ Week has discovered directors such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo Del Toro, Wong Kar Wai and many more. The news marks the first time since 2010 that a Malaysian film has been featured at Cannes. There have only been three other Malaysian films that were chosen for Cannes, making this selection a significant achievement for the country’s growing film industry.

Tiger Stripes, a Malay-language horror, is in competition for the prestigious Caméra d’Or prize, which is awarded by the Cannes Film Festival and is set to showcase Amanda Nell Eu’s talent as a rising female filmmaker in Malaysia.

Amanda Nell Eu.

Tiger Stripes follows a 12-year-old girl, Zaffan, who struggles with puberty and discovers her body morphs in a terrifying way. As she is further provoked by her own community, she soon learns that embracing her true self is the only answer to her freedom. The film is set to star three new talents, Zafreen Zairizal, Deena Ezral, and Piqa, alongside veteran local actors Shaheizy Sam (“Polis Evo 3, 2023”), Jun Lojong (“Roh, 2019”), and Fatimah Abu Bakar (“Imaginur, 2022”).

Tiger Stripes is an eight-country co-production, with Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Qatar all contributing to the film. The fact that it has received the Creative Industry Recovery Grant (PENJANA) from the Ministry of Communications and Digital for its production in Malaysia further highlights the film’s significance for the local industry.

The film is supported by Taiwan Creative Content Agency; the Southeast Asia Co-production Grant of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority; the Cinémas du Monde fund of the National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image of France; the Nederlands Filmfonds; the Hubert Bals Fund and HBF+Europe Programme of the International Film Festival Rotterdam; Film und Medien Stiftung NRW; Vision Sud Est of Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation; Berlinale World Cinema Fund; the Doha Film Institute and the Next Masters Support Program from Talents Tokyo and Filmex.

The selection of Tiger Stripes marks a significant milestone for the Malaysian film industry and the first time a Malaysian female filmmaker has been invited to Cannes.

According to the official press release, audiences in Malaysia can look forward to seeing Tiger Stripes on the big screen sometime in the near future.