DIRECTOR'S NOTES

"I made this film as part of paying my homage to the Malaysian youth. I left the country for twenty years. When I came back home I tried to recapture some of the images and sound of the seventies.

I am not looking for some nostalgic moments nor searching for my lost youth. DARI JEMAPOH KE MANCHESTEÉ is about living and hoping that things could change for the better if we work hard enough ... The Youth Is Striking Back – they wanted their space.

DARI JEMAPOH KE MANCHESTEÉ is a cinematic space for every one to enjoy the visual pleasure. Male bonding and fluid sexuality is part of the narrative. The homoerotic scene is treated in a subliminial manner. Jealousy among male friends is nothing new to the human experience."

- Hishamuddin Rais, January 2000, on the occasion of the Singapore cinema release of the film. go here for full press statement


ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Hishamuddin Rais  

Finished his secondary education at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. Entered University of Malaya to study South East Asian History in 1971.

Active in campus politics. Elected Secretary General of the now banned University of Malaya Students Union (UMSU) in 1973. Left Malaysia in 1974 after a huge student demonstration historically known as The Baling Peasant Protest 1974.

Studied French Language at University Catholic of Leuven la Neuve 1984. Studied Arts at Brixton College London. Graduated in film and video from University of Westminster London 1992.

He returned to Malaysia in 1994 and became a freelance writer who was once again active in politics. He helped organise several street demonstrations from 1998 to 2000 following the ouster of deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

On April 10th 2001 he began a two-year jail sentence under the Internal Security Act, which permits detention without trial.

[ go to the Malay version ]


READ HISHAM 1999 INTERVIEW BY BIGO MAG | here


ARTICLES ON HISHAM:

"Hisham left Malaysia to evade the draconian Internal Security Act, a law often used to silence political dissidents. Little did he realise that soon after his return, he would indeed be jailed under the ISA, along with five of his reformasi colleagues.

His low-budget film Jemapoh — a road movie which celebrates the power of youth — was screened in international film festivals all around the world in 1998. But it wasnt until last year that Malaysians got the chance to watch it. By then, the film maker was already incarcerated in Kamunting."
– Steven Gan, malaysiakini.com – Apr 10th, 2002 | read more here