At the last film festival in Cannes, she roared with pride. That’s right: at age 38, Amanda Nell Eu won the top prize at Critics’ Week for her first feature film, Tiger stripes. In a colorful outfit with a jungle motif, the Malaysian director and screenwriter impressed with her boldness and energy. Which she puts into this tale of emancipation about Zaffan, a 12-year-old pre-pubescent girl ostracized by a group of friends at her girls’ school the day she got her period. Distraught, she faces the transformation of her body alone. But the symptoms worsen: in addition to acne and hair growth, she finds that claws are growing under her fingernails, lesions appear on her skin, and her hair is falling out by the handfuls…
A favorite for this fantastic film that evokes great contemporary stories of metamorphosis Heavyby Jules Ducournau, teddy bearLudovic and Zoran Boukherma, and even Animal kingdom, by Thomas Cailley. Anchored in local folklore, its myths, beliefs and superstitions, this story is about the transition to adulthood and the search for identity, but also about a heroine who breaks free from the views of others, who takes power in a patriarchal and religious society and embraces her true nature. And so he goes from the position of the victim to the position of the predator.
Tiger stripes it stands out for its frontal, raw and modern approach to puberty, especially during the scenes where Zaffan undresses and removes her veil, a provocative gesture in Malaysia, where Amanda Nell Eu was born. After studying in London, she returned to live in Kuala Lumpur with the desire to give the anthill a real kick. ” I deal with a topic that is still tabooutters Conservatives are afraid of the female body, they don’t want to see it. It teaches us shame and insecurity. That’s beautiful! To say that it belongs to us and must be able to express itself freely, that is my struggle as a filmmaker. »
The story of a heroine who frees herself from the gaze of others
Inspired Ugly duckling, Andersen’s story, the director also shares her own experiences. “ I felt bad about myself, terrified by the violence of the hormonal upheavalhe remembers. Added to this were nasty comments from people judging my figure as if it was a public topic of conversation! » He uses the motif of the tiger, the totem of his country, as majestic as it is wild and threatened with extinction. ” As a result of being chased, Zaffan fights back and turns into a monster. My actress Zafreen Zairizal, who was 15 at the time of the shoot, underwent six hours of daily preparation. Because of the humid heat, she stayed in an air-conditioned dressing room between takes to avoid sweating. Special effects makeup and tropical weather do not go well together. »