Malaysian #MeToo documentary wins Netpac Award at BISFF
SHAH ALAM - Malaysian filmmaker Chen Yin Wen or better known as Wen has won the Netpac Award at the 39th Busan International Short Film Festival (BISFF) for her debut feature documentary ‘The Boys Club’.
This was the first for a Malaysian documentary.
In ‘The Boys Club’, Wen who is also a journalist revealed her deeply personal and harrowing experience of enduring sexual harassment, bullying and misogyny.
“I’m honoured by the recognition from BISFF at our world premiere. As a journalist myself, it was even more meaningful to receive the news on World Press Freedom Day,” Wen said on winning the award.
One of the issues highlighted in the film was media freedom in which Wen said journalists should not be harassed at the workplace, or for doing their work.
Wen and her executive producers hoped that the film will be used for a greater cause - to provide the film as an educational toolkit for sexual harassment training and awareness, and to lobby for a more comprehensive and survivor-centric Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill, a law that has been more than over 20 years in the making in Malaysia.
She is currently working with the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) on the film’s impact campaign and also award-winning Indonesian film producer Mandy Marahimin to run a similar campaign in Indonesia.
According to BISFF, the judges were blown away by the director's bravery, her determination to not give up on her film, and her fascinating documentary storytelling ability.
The jury believed that the sole Malaysian film at BISFF this year was worthy of the Netpac Award as it sheds light on the Asian filmmaking scene in relation to the '#MeToo movement,' and encourages people to stand in solidarity with survivors, while also reflecting on themselves.
‘The Boys Club’s’ Oceania premiere will be made at the Doc Edge Festival 2022, an Oscar-qualifying international documentary festival which will celebrate its 17th edition as a hybrid festival.
It will also be premiered in theatres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as online with 113 films over 40 days, from June 1 to July 10.
The film will also be made available to Malaysian audiences via virtual cinema where the tickets could be purchased on the festival’s website at www.docedge.nz/festival22/film/the-boys-club/.
It will also make its US premiere at the 21st San Francisco Documentary Festival, as part of the ‘Shorts 7: She Dares to Defy’ programme.
In the last decade, Wen has worked on international documentaries for Netflix, BBC, History Channel, Crime & Investigation Network, Business Insider, Euronews and CNA.
Her documentary on female circumcision, The Hidden Cut, won the SOPA 2019 Awards for Excellence in Reporting Women’s Issues.
