M For Malaysia Documentary Submitted to the Oscars (Best International Film)

Last month saw the release of M For Malaysia, a documentary detailing the fall of the previous government that was led by a kleptocrat Najib, and the rise of Pakatan Harapan captained by the 93-year-old Tun Dr Mahathir. It’s a film that had me in tears all throughout. In my review I wrote:

I walked into M For Malaysia worried that it was going to be more of the same, especially since it’s produced by Tun Dr Mahathir’s daughter, Marina Mahathir and co-directed by one of his granddaughters, Ineza Roussille (alongside Dian Lee). Sure, it’s a documentary as opposed to a biographical film, but documentaries can be biased propaganda pieces too (see: Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11). Thankfully, this is anything but…

We anticipate Tun M’s “hero-introduction” shot, but we don’t get it. No praises being sung, not by his fellow party members, not by his family. Instead, Roussille and Lee paint him in a manner that I never would’ve thought possible in a local film period, what more a big-screen release — they paint the truth.

Today it was announced that Malaysia has submitted M For Malaysia to be considered for nomination in the Best Internation Film category at the 2020 Oscars. Malaysia is among 93 countries that have submitted a film in this category including Korea which submitted the highly critically acclaimed Parasite — next year’s favourite not just to get nominated but also win.

Alfonso Cuaron’s beautiful black and white film Roma won the award this year. The category was previously known as Best Foreign-Language Film. This would mark the fifth time Malaysia has submitted a film for Oscar consideration. Previous entries include Puteri Gunung Ledang (2004), Bunohan (2012), Lelaki Harapan Dunia (2015) and Redha (2016).

Check out the full list submissions for the Best International Film Category for the 2020 Academy Awards:

1. Albania, “The Delegation,” Bujar Alimani, director;
2. Algeria, “Papicha,” Mounia Meddour, director;
3. Argentina, “Heroic Losers,” Sebastián Borensztein, director;
4. Armenia, “Lengthy Night,” Edgar Baghdasaryan, director;
5. Australia, “Buoyancy,” Rodd Rathjen, director;
6. Austria, “Joy,” Sudabeh Mortezai, director;
7. Bangladesh, “Alpha,” Nasiruddin Yousuff, director;
8. Belarus, “Debut,” Anastasiya Miroshnichenko, director;
9. Belgium, “Our Mothers,” César Díaz, director;
10. Bolivia, “I Miss You,” Rodrigo Bellott, director;
11. Bosnia and Herzegovina, “The Son,” Ines Tanovic, director;
12. Brazil, “Invisible Life,” Karim Aïnouz, director;
13. Bulgaria, “Ága,” Milko Lazarov, director;
14. Cambodia, “In the Life of Music,” Caylee So, Sok Visal, directors;
15. Canada, “Antigone,” Sophie Deraspe, director;
16. Chile, “Spider,” Andrés Wood, director;
17. China, “Ne Zha,” Yu Yang, director;
18. Colombia, “Monos,” Alejandro Landes, director;
19. Costa Rica, “The Awakening of the Ants,” Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, director;
20. Croatia, “Mali,” Antonio Nuic, director;
21. Cuba, “A Translator,” Rodrigo Barriuso, Sebastián Barriuso, directors;
22. Czech Republic, “The Painted Bird,” Václav Marhoul, director;
23. Denmark, “Queen of Hearts,” May el-Toukhy, director;
24. Dominican Republic, “The Projectionist,” José María Cabral, director;
25. Ecuador, “The Longest Night,” Gabriela Calvache, director;
26. Egypt, “Poisonous Roses,” Ahmed Fawzi Saleh, director;
27. Estonia, “Truth and Justice,” Tanel Toom, director;
28. Ethiopia, “Running against the Wind,” Jan Philipp Weyl, director;
29. Finland, “Stupid Young Heart,” Selma Vilhunen, director;
30. France, “Les Misérables,” Ladj Ly, director;
31. Georgia, “Shindisi,” Dimitri Tsintsadze, director;
32. Germany, “System Crasher,” Nora Fingscheidt, director;
33. Ghana, “Azali,” Kwabena Gyansah, director;
34. Greece, “When Tomatoes Met Wagner,” Marianna Economou, director;
35. Honduras, “Blood, Passion, and Coffee,” Carlos Membreño, director;
36. Hong Kong, “The White Storm 2 Drug Lords,” Herman Yau, director;
37. Hungary, “Those Who Remained,” Barnabás Tóth, director;
38. Iceland, “A White, White Day,” Hlynur Pálmason, director;
39. India, “Gully Boy,” Zoya Akhtar, director;
40. Indonesia, “Memories of My Body,” Garin Nugroho, director;
41. Iran, “Finding Farideh,” Azadeh Moussavi, Kourosh Ataee, directors;
42. Ireland, “Gaza,” Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell, directors;
43. Israel, “Incitement,” Yaron Zilberman, director;
44. Italy, “The Traitor,” Marco Bellocchio, director;
45. Japan, “Weathering with You,” Makoto Shinkai, director;
46. Kazakhstan, “Kazakh Khanate. The Golden Throne,” Rustem Abdrashov, director;
47. Kenya, “Subira,” Ravneet Singh (Sippy) Chadha, director;
48. Kosovo, “Zana,” Antoneta Kastrati, director;
49. Kyrgyzstan, “Aurora,” Bekzat Pirmatov, director;
50. Latvia, “The Mover,” Davis Simanis, director;
51. Lebanon, “1982,” Oualid Mouaness, director;
52. Lithuania, “Bridges of Time,” Audrius Stonys, Kristine Briede, directors;
53. Luxembourg, “Tel Aviv on Fire,” Sameh Zoabi, director;
54. Malaysia, “M for Malaysia,” Dian Lee, Ineza Roussille, directors;
55. Mexico, “The Chambermaid,” Lila Avilés, director;
56. Mongolia, “The Steed,” Erdenebileg Ganbold, director;
57. Montenegro, “Neverending Past,” Andro Martinović, director;
58. Morocco, “Adam,” Maryam Touzani, director;
59. Nepal, “Bulbul,” Binod Paudel, director;
60. Netherlands, “Instinct,” Halina Reijn, director;
61. Nigeria, “Lionheart,” Genevieve Nnaji, director;
62. North Macedonia, “Honeyland,” Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska, directors;
63. Norway, “Out Stealing Horses,” Hans Petter Moland, director;
64. Pakistan, “Laal Kabootar,” Kamal Khan, director;
65. Palestine, “It Must Be Heaven,” Elia Suleiman, director;
66. Panama, “Everybody Changes,” Arturo Montenegro, director;
67. Peru, “Retablo,” Alvaro Delgado Aparicio, director;
68. Philippines, “Verdict,” Raymund Ribay Gutierrez, director;
69. Poland, “Corpus Christi,” Jan Komasa, director;
70. Portugal, “The Domain,” Tiago Guedes, director;
71. Romania, “The Whistlers,” Corneliu Porumboiu, director;
72. Russia, “Beanpole,” Kantemir Balagov, director;
73. Saudi Arabia, “The Perfect Candidate,” Haifaa Al Mansour, director;
74. Senegal, “Atlantics,” Mati Diop, director;
75. Serbia, “King Petar the First,” Petar Ristovski, director;
76. Singapore, “A Land Imagined,” Yeo Siew Hua, director;
77. Slovakia, “Let There Be Light,” Marko Skop, director;
78. Slovenia, “History of Love,” Sonja Prosenc, director;
79. South Africa, “Knuckle City,” Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, director;
80. South Korea, “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho, director;
81. Spain, “Pain and Glory,” Pedro Almodóvar, director;
82. Sweden, “And Then We Danced,” Levan Akin, director;
83. Switzerland, “Wolkenbruch’s Wondrous Journey into the Arms of a Shiksa,”
84. Michael Steiner, director;
85. Taiwan, “Dear Ex,” Mag Hsu, Chih-Yen Hsu, directors;
86. Thailand, “Krasue: Inhuman Kiss,” Sitisiri Mongkolsiri, director;
87. Tunisia, “Dear Son,” Mohamed Ben Attia, director;
88. Turkey, “Commitment Asli,” Semih Kaplanoglu, director;
89. Ukraine, “Homeward,” Nariman Aliev, director;
90. United Kingdom, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” Chiwetel Ejiofor, director;
91. Uruguay, “The Moneychanger,” Federico Veiroj, director;
92. Uzbekistan, “Hot Bread,” Umid Khamdamov, director;
93. Venezuela, “Being Impossible,” Patricia Ortega, director;
94. Vietnam, “Furie,” Le Van Kiet, director.

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