Apa Khabar Orang Kampung

Kuala Lumpur-born Amir Muhammad thinks that it is "no big deal" that his latest work has been banned in his home country.

"Really, it is more of a distraction," the 34-year-old tells Moviexclusive.com candidly in an exclusive interview held at the Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) Secretariat in Singapore Management University.

The bespectacled filmmaker adds: "It'd be nice and ideal to have the film to be shown at home, but my responsibility is to the work itself."

Muhammad is referring to his newest documentary Village People Radio Show, which showcases the lives and histories of former members of the banned Communist Party of Malaya. These men now live in exile as farmers in Southern Thailand. This is a sequel to The Last Communist (2006), which was also disallowed in Malaysia.

Regarded by many as one of the directors to look out for in the Malaysian New Wave, Muhammad was in Singapore recently to attend the screening of Village People Radio Show at the 20th SIFF. The one-night screening welcomed a full house crowd. The documentary will also be screened commercially at The Picturehouse soon.

"I made this film based on curiosity. It's something I want to find out. And I'd think it will satisfy some other people's curiosity too," says Muhammad about his source of inspiration for the film.

"I hope people can go home with the sense that there are different ways of telling stories around you. I hope it moves them in some way."

The confident director recalls nothing that his 2-week shoot wasn't a difficult one. He is glad that he had a crew who was more than willing to travel to Southern Thailand with his for this project.

"I guess they are curious about the topic too," he laughs.

Compared to The Last Communist, Muhammad feels that this sequel is more controlled and calculated. He already had everything in mind when he shot the film, hence the limited 20 hours of footage from the 14 days of shooting.

The friendly filmmaker chuckles: "I even knew right from the beginning that the film's duration is going to be 72 minutes--for reasons that are too private to be disclosed here!"

The seemingly funnyman isn't all about jokes and amusement. When asked about his local censorship board, he has this to say.

"They are not that serious, hence the films are cut up badly. On the other hand, I think we should move towards Singapore's method of a rating and consumer-based system."

John Li

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