IN an effort to bring attention to the indigenous people often forgotten by the Malaysian public, two tertiary students created a documentary highlighting the beautiful Mah Meri community.
Their achievement resulted in the opportunity to showcase Waves of Life at a recent prestigious international documentary film festival in Nyon, Switzerland.
The 39-minute, 58-second short documentary was the fruit of labour of Multimedia University (MMU) Bachelor of Cinematic Arts students Keefe Loh and Gan Zi Xuan.
They were invited to present their film at the Visions du Réel (VdR) International Film Festival’s “VdR–Film Market”, which took place from April 14 to 17.
“Being selected to participate is an honour for us as it reflects our dedication to storytelling and raising social awareness through filmmaking.
“It granted us the opportunity to connect with industry professionals such as exhibition partners, distributors, TV buyers and festival programmers from across the globe.
“This exposure has paved the way for exciting new opportunities, especially for university students like us.
“It has allowed us to work with global distributors to secure the distribution of our film in Europe,” said Loh, who directed the documentary, in a recent press release.
Waves of Life, which debuted at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) “Docs for Sale” in the Netherlands last November, delves into the lives of a fisherman and his family from the Mah Meri indigenous community. The family resides on an isolated island near Pulau Ketam, Selangor, where their living conditions are significantly challenging. The family relies on Kamal, a loving father, who uses traditional fishing techniques passed down from his ancestors to sustain them.
They travel frequently to the nearby Chinese fishing village of Pulau Ketam to buy necessities and sell seafood to a Chinese supplier. Living in uncertainty, they navigate the challenges of parenting while embracing their rural lifestyle.
The goal, said Loh, is to shed light on this small ethnic group, which remains largely underrepresented.
“Through our documentary, we aspire to bring attention to their challenges and hope that more people can connect with the struggles faced by this community, which quietly contributes to Malaysian society.
“Being with the family, I felt their love for each other and their tight-knit bond, which many urban families lack nowadays.
“Kamal and his family are a great example of how little one needs to live a happy life,” he said, adding that the documentary is in Mah Meri, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.
Filming the documentary proved challenging, particularly because of transportation and logistics. The only way to get to the island was by a small fishing boat owned by the villagers from the island.
“We had a hard time not only transporting our equipment but also obtaining daily necessities, which were only available at the nearby Chinese fishing village,” said Loh.
Gan, who produced the documentary, said Malaysians tend to forget the presence of small ethnic groups even though they are also part of the nation and actively contribute to society by harvesting seafood.
“During the time we spent with them, we managed to observe and capture how their lifestyle is so different from that of a typical Malaysian citizen.”
She said the duo hopes the film will resonate in other multi-ethnic countries which face the problem of underrepresented minority groups.
“We hope that people will connect with these characters and that the film becomes a conversation starter on the universal issues it addresses.”
