Redha to become first Malaysian film by local female director sent to the Oscars

LOCAL film Redha has officially been chosen to represent Malaysia in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards. The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) selected the film by Current Pictures as Malaysia’s official entry after much consideration from its very own dedicated Oscar selection committee.

Redha is Malaysia’s fourth submission to America’s prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences following Saw Teong Hin‘s Puteri Gunung Ledang (2005), Dain Iskandar Said‘s Bunohan (2013) and Liew Seng Tat‘s Lelaki Harapan Dunia (2015). It is also the first entrant by a local female director.

A debut feature from Tunku Mona Riza, Redha closely follows parental struggles in the face of autism. In the film, In Redha, Razlan and Alina’s relationship is strained by their son’s unfathomable behaviour. They eventually come to terms with their reality, until tragedy strikes and the family must start from scratch once again.

The film stars Nam Ron, June Lojong, Nadiya Nisaa, Remy Ishak, Ruminah Sidek, Susan Lankester and child actors Harith Haziq and Izzy Reef. It’s been touted as one of Malaysia’s best releases this year, and readers can get a lot more information on the film via our previous coverage.

Even though Redha wasn’t a big draw at the Malaysian box office (it grossed approximately RM500,000) it has been receiving much acclaim from the rest of the world. Lead actress June Lojong took home a Best Actress award and the film won a Special Festival Prize for Humanism in Film at the World Premieres Film Festival Philippines earlier this year.

Other film festivals which have bestowed Redha with awards include the Russian Film Critics Guild, the Los Angeles Awareness Film Festival, and the 12th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival.

Redha will also be representing Malaysia at the Fourth Casa Asia Film Week in Barcelona, Spain and the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane, Australia. It is currently one of major competitors at this year’s Majlis Pengkritik Filem Kuala Lumpur (MPFKL).

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