11 Mar – Out of the 16 directors who will be invited to this year's Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) to present their projects at L'Atelier 2020, one will be Malaysia's very own Amanda Nell Eu. The filmmaker, known for her award-winning shorts "It's Easier to Raise Cattle" (or "Lagi Senang Jaga Sekandang Lembu") and "Vinegar Baths", will be presenting her feature directorial effort, "Tiger Stripes". It tells of an 11-year-old girl named Zaffan who experiences horrifying physical changes to her body, which include a hideous rash, bleeding from her fingernails and clumps of hair falling from her head. She tries to conceal her changes at first but when she is unable to do so anymore, hysteria breaks loose and teenage girls start having fits in school. As the epidemic spreads across the village, rumours of her transformation makes everyone fear her. She faces confinement and isolation, labelled as a demon, but she finally decides she wants to reveal her true self to the world – all her wrath, rage and beauty.
"Tiger Stripes" previously went to Talents Tokyo, Less is More, Ties That Bind, Network of Asian Fantastic Films at Bucheon and Locarno Open Doors. South East Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC) revealed last August that it has found new partners within the region, which include Singapore's Akanga Film Asia – which produced Yeo Siew Hua's "A Land Imagined" – and Indonesia's KawanKawan Media! Fran Borgia and Yulia Evina Bhara from Akanga and KawanKawan, respectively, will be producing the movie alongside Foo Fei Ling from Malaysia-based Ghost Grrrl Pictures. The 16th edition of Cinefondation's Atelier, or L'Atelier, will be held from 14 to 21 May, within the framework of 73rd annual Cannes Film Festival which is taking place from 12 to 23 May 2020 in France. The Cinefondation's Atelier was created in 2005 to stimulate creative filmmaking and encourage the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers. Out of the 233 projects, 171 have been released theatrically and 14 are currently in pre-production.