Taipei: “Movies are not great. It is the people who help make them that are great,” Malaysia young director Chong Keat Aun said while receiving the ‘Best New Director’ award at Golden Horse Awards in Taipei on Saturday. He bagged the prestigious award for his debut fantasy film, “The Story of the Southern Islet.”
The movie explores the numerous spiritual beliefs among locals and is about a Chinese couple who live near the Malaysia-Thailand border. The man faints and spits up blood and a rusty nail after fighting with their neighbour
His wife goes out in search of a cure, where she explores numerous beliefs among the locals, in the hope that one of them could help her husband.
Chong thanked the producers of the film as well as a cameraman and a mentor, who died after completing the movie. He stated that he is grateful to these three people, without whom the movie couldn’t be completed.
He later thanked his parents, from whom the movie was inspired. He stated that while securing the funding, many didn’t understand it, however, he was sure that someday somebody will, just like The Golden Horse Awards.