Shu Qi’s award-winning Girl, Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1966 historical drama Andrei Rublev and the world premiere of Wang Yang’s June have been pulled from the Malaysian International Film Festival (MIFFest), just days ahead of its launch on Saturday (July 18).
Both Girl and Andrei Rublev could not pass local censorship rules unless some sex scenes were edited out. To uphold their artistic integrity, the festival has cancelled their screenings.
“MIFFest remains committed to celebrating artistic expression while respecting the creative vision of filmmakers and complying with the regulations of the local authorities,” festival founder and president Joanne Goh told Screen. “In light of these circumstances, the screenings will no longer be part of this year’s festival programme.”
Girl, the directing feature debut of acclaimed actress Shu Qi that premiered in Competition at Venice, will remain in MIFFest’s competition. It will still be considered for the Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) by the jury, which is led by Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap.
Soviet epic Andrei Rublev was one of five titles set to be presented in the festival’s inaugural Russian Film Week through a new collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and promotional body Roskino, aimed at showcasing classic masterpieces and contemporary works. The programme will now be down to four titles: Stasya Tolstaya’s Family Happiness, Vladimir Besedin’s Lefty, Sidney Lumet’s Birthday by Raul Geydarov, and Mikhail Kalatozov’s The Cranes Are Flying.
June, a mainland Chinese production starring Aaron Kwok as a chef in New York’s Chinatown, has not yet been granted a screening permit from the Chinese authorities in time for MIFFest. The permit is also known as the ‘dragon seal logo’, without which any local or overseas screenings are prohibited. The processing time for the permit can be lengthy.
June was due to play in the Neon strand. As its screening is scrapped, MIFFest is left with only one world premiere title, Malaysian director Ariff Zulkarnain’s feature debut BAGA: Tomorrow Belongs To No One, which is set as the festival’s opening film. The neo-noir drama is set in a seaside village in Terengganu and follows a struggling boatman battling addiction and a batik artisan dreaming of a better future.
The 9th MIFFest runs July 18-25 in Kuala Lumpur.
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