After critical success overseas, "Snow in Midsummer" is released in Malaysia

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After critical success overseas, "Snow in Midsummer" is released in Malaysia

Writer: Heidi Hsia

The Chong Keat Aun movie is finally released in Malaysia

22 Jul - Following the critical success of "The Story of Southern Islet", Golden Horse-winning director Chong Keat Aun's second feature film, "Snow in Midsummer", is released in Malaysia on 18 July.

The movie, which is based on historical events in Malaysia with a focus on the stories of survivors, features a stellar cast from Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore, including Wan Fang, Pearlly Chua, Rexen Cheng, Pauline Tan, Peter Yu, and Alvin Wong.

Last year, the film received the Special Mention Musa Cinema & Arts Award at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. It also earned nine nominations at the 2023 Golden Horse Awards, marking a new milestone for Malaysian directors at this prestigious event. In 2024, Chong Keat Aun made history again after becoming the first Malaysian director to win the Firebird Award for Best Film in the Chinese-language Young Cinema Competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Co-produced by Malaysia's SunStrong Entertainment, Singapore's August Pictures, Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), Taipei Film Commission, Swallow Wings Films, Southern Islet Pictures, and Janji Pictures Production, the story is set three days after the 1969 Malaysian general election.

Unexpectedly, riots broke out that night, resulting in hundreds of people disappearing overnight with their bodies never found. Since then, a woman named Eng (Wang Fang) has confined herself to the 1969 time frame, relentlessly searching for her lost family members.

Kedah-born director Chong Keat Aun began the research for his The Classic Accents project and collected oral histories since 2005. In 2009, while participating in the Sungai Buloh leprosarium preservation demonstration, he discovered an unmarked cemetery behind the settlement. He waited for the next-of-kin at the graveyard every Qingming Festival and 13 May, interviewed the survivors and compiled stories from 14 women family members over 14 years.

Said Chong, "This is a story about the wounded historical survivors. Having it screened in my home country is a miracle and a small step forward."

Meanwhile, Wan Fang, who plays the female lead, Eng, will appear at the movie premieres and events in Penang and Kuala Lumpur. She expressed her hope for "Snow in Midsummer" to be released in Malaysia during her concert in early May.

Now that her wish has come true, she said, "From the Venice Film Festival to now, the film has been both seen and suppressed. It has been a bumpy journey. I am truly grateful that it can finally be screened in Malaysia."

"Snow in Midsummer" is released nationwide in Malaysia on 18 July.