Southeast Asia's filmmakers have yet to see the level of international recognition enjoyed by their East and South Asian counterparts. Here, three filmmakers from the region weigh in on the reasons why—and what can be done to change it
Since the 1970s, Southeast Asian films have experienced a steady growth in recognition both within and outside their domestic markets. Then in the 1990s, the industry experienced a resurgence of interest as a new wave of independent auteurs—from Singapore’s Eric Khoo to Thailand’s Pen-Ek Ratanaruang—shaped their local film sectors with unique directorial visions and provocative works.
In the two decades following, several of the region’s filmmakers, both commercial and art-house, also experienced success. From the 2003 action flick Ong Bak and 2004 horror film Shutter to the 2013 family drama Ilo Ilo, directed by Gen.T honouree Anthony Chen, which won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Southeast Asian cinema has been steadily on the rise.
But on a global stage, Southeast Asian filmmakers have yet to see the same level of international recognition as their South and East Asian counterparts. This is due to a combination of factors, say the three filmmakers we speak to, including the nature of Southeast Asian films and the lack of a well-equipped ecosystem to groom and support talent. Here’s what they had to say.
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Culture
It’s long been said that cinema is a universal language. "It's the language of images," said celebrated Mauritanian-born Malian film director and producer Abderrahmane Sissako. “Each image can be traced to a specific place, and that makes the territory of an artist an important issue.”
Despite this, Indonesian filmmaker Mouly Surya says language remains an additional hurdle that Southeast Asian filmmakers have to overcome. “When your film is in English, your market is naturally bigger than when it isn’t.”
For commercially successful foreign films coming out of countries such as France, China and South Korea, the existence of a strong film culture within their local markets has given them great cultural cachet.
“Different films carry within them different cultural capital depending on where they are made,” says Singaporean filmmaker Kirsten Tan. “To give an example, if we had two equally lauded films coming out of international film festivals at the same time, one is French and the other is Burmese, more often than not, the French film will get more traction once it’s released simply because it’s French. We need to recognise that there is entrenched cultural imperialism that is working against many Southeast Asian films and filmmakers. The path for us [Southeast Asian filmmakers] isn’t as greased and it takes more [effort] to get a breakthrough."
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