KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian English film, Temenggor, has been picked up by Amazon Prime Video, and will be available for viewers in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Temenggor director Feisal Azizuddin said that his film was completed in 2017 but was never released as local broadcasters were uninterested.
"Being a mostly English language film with suggestive themes, no famous actors — only immensely talented actors — Temenggor was not warmly received by potential distributors and broadcasters," he said in a news report yesterday.
The film stars Jacob Hii, Amanda Xavier and Amir Rahim, and has been classified as science-fiction by Amazon Prime Video. It follows the story of a small tribe and how they are forced to deal with an old curse that surfaces.
The film was shot at Perak's Royal Belum rainforest and to keep things as real as possible, some of the props such as the shields, spears and utensils were specifically-made for the film by Orang Asli craftsmen.
"This year, a new project partner came on board — Jazzy Pictures, the company behind One, Two, Jaga.
"With feedback from Jazzy Pictures' founder Joanne Goh, we did another cut of the film. This time, it felt complete," said Faisal.
Faisal also said that the film's title had been changed to Temenggor: Curse Of A Thousand Moons to make it more marketable.
"I'm thrilled that the film is now accessible to a wide audience. It has been a long journey producing my first feature film, but the knowledge I've gained from all the obstacles along the way has been invaluable.
"In hindsight, I do feel there were many things I would have done differently. Since the film was made years ago, I've improved as a filmmaker and could clearly point out the rookie mistakes I made."
"Despite this, I'm a firm believer that films to filmmakers are like a time capsule that reflect a time in your life and the journey to produce it," he said.