Father Figures in Child Marriage Issue Explored in Short Movie, ‘Khilaf’

In the protest of ensuring that underage school students will not be brides, Khilaf is a story that portrays the perspective of a father in a vulnerable situation.

In the deafening silence of a rubber estate, a man taps one of the trees and a glimpse of a young girl came onto the screen with a conversation between faceless men in the background; the trailer for the short film, Khilaf is apparently telling of the problem faced by the characters. The premise of the film, which is produced by Rais Aqil and directed by Khairi Asyraff, revolves around how the issue of child marriage and its connection (whether considered to always be the case) to rape instigated a conflict within a father named Hassan. The word “khilaf” means going against something which may be further inspected in the film, specifically how it relates to the standing of child marriage in Islam and the Malay culture.

 

“As visionary visual storytellers, armed with hope and nothing but good intention, we wander into this issue to understand and to give back to the society as a wake up call regarding child marriage. Khilaf is not just a mere short film, but also an attempt to raise awareness about the issue”, said Khilaf’s writer, Syarul Akmal.

The dialogue in the trailer then revealed that a man named Pak Din warned Hassan not to expose a secret in which he responded with uncertainty on how to deal with it and Pak Din offered the solution of marrying Hassan’s clearly underage daughter. Here lies the matter of how Hassan will react, will he allow the marriage for the sake of his daughter’s future based on the predatory intention of Pak Din or will he make an official report to authorities regarding the sexual assault (that will may be explained in the film).

Khilaf is a production by , a creative video production that’s created to tell varied narratives whether drama, crime, thriller and many more. With this upcoming short film project, there is another platform (fictional nonetheless) for the audience to witness a continuation of the debate and opinions expressed on child marriages either influenced by religion, culture or even politics however, there is always a reminder that this is happening within our conscious reality and society.

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EDITORIAL NOTE 11:11 AM – A mistake was made regarding the director. The director of Khilaf is Khairi Asyraff not Rais Aqil. Rais Aqil is the producer.

Featured Image and images source: stills from ‘Khilaf’.