8/14/2019 Thesun 2009-07-28 Page19 Yasmins Immortal Words

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19theSun | TUESDAY JULY 28 2009

by Bissme S.

I HAVE always found it apleasure to interview the late

Yasmin Ahmad who passedaway on June 25 at 11.25pm aftersuffering a stoke two days earlier.The talented filmmaker who hadwon numerous awards nation-ally and internationally neverfailed to give thought-provokinganswers during interviews.

In memory of Yasminand her unforgettable works both commercials (mostly theMederka advertisements) andfilms (Sepet, Gubra, Mukhsin,Muallaf and Talentime) we would like to provide someglimpses of interviews we hadhad with her and recap someof the more compelling quotesthat she had made that werepublished in theSun.

On being creativeThe greatest misconceptionpeople have about me is that Iam creative. I am not trying tobe humble. I believe God createsand we just observe. People whomake art that is felt by otherfellow human beings are sharpobservers. Maybe I have beenblessed with sharp observation.But I am not creative.

On praises andawardsWhen people say you are sogood and you win so manyawards, it is easy to be arrogant.Human beings are so flawed.We are so prone to be arrogant.I only hope God protects mefrom becoming [like] that. As Iget older, I understand why onehas to pray five times a day. Five

times in a day, you are remindedthat apart from Gods grace, youare nothing and that is veryhumbling.

On criticisms onher workThings are pretty grim out thereand you got to be crazy if youwant to see more bitterness onthe screen. You can watch a littlebitterness but there must be hope.Art that doesnt give us glimpsesof God is a missed opportunity.When we talk about glimpsesof God, we are talking abouthope and possibilities ... and notthe dark side of things.

(Some of her critics felt thather works were far too optimisticand lacked the bleakness thatreal life possesses.)

On highlightingsensitive issuesI dont think I am a controver-sial figure. It is just a couple of

journalists who like to paint thatpicture of me. They have their

own agendas and I dont care toguess what their agendas are. Iam slowly beginning to believethat what I am doing is not worth

the trouble. My intention to high-light sensitive issues is to allowpeople to discuss these issues ina civilised manner. But that is nothappening.

On her biggestlimitation as afilmmakerI often feel [that] I am not goodenough. When I watch old filmsby Charlie Chaplin, BusterKeaton, Billy Wilder, SatyajitRay, and early films of StanleyKubrick, I realise their films areso much better and they weremade so long ago. They made mefeel a kind of nothing. My biggestlimitation in this country andanywhere else is myself. I feel I[still] have a long way to go.

On the inspirationfor her workFrom real life. From people.Only people interest me. Howpeople handle love and hate andhow people choose betweenthe two.

On being aversatile directorTo be told I have a part-

icular trendin my filmsis not an

i n s u l t to me.All thed i rec -

tors I ad-mired have

c o n s i s t e n t

themes in

their movies. People have askedme, why dont I make a war orsci-fi film and prove that I ama versatile filmmaker. I never

went into films to be a versatiledirector. I went into it to examineemotions. If you want versatility,go for somebody else.

(Her reaction to comments thatshe is not a versatile director as sheonly explores human emotions inher movies.)

On how she wouldlike to berememberedIt is not so important for meto be remembered. Ego andarrogance are things that Goddoesnt approve of. I like peopleto remember the love andcompassion that is so prevalentin my films. Some people choosenot to see it. They see otherthings.

On her moviesbeing controversialIt surprises me that my movies

are controversial.It surprises me

that people areshocked by a

Malay girlin a bajuk u r u n ggoing to aparty. Goingto a partyis not theworst thingthat a Malaygirl in bajukurung hasdone. Myfilms are so

tame comparedto real life. It

surprises mewhen I

CREATIVE DIRECTOR/FILMMAKER YASMIN AHMAD

MAY HAVE LEFT US BUT SHE ALSO LEFT BEHIND HER

WISDOM AND A LEGACY OF HER WORK FOR US TO

CELEBRATE HUMANITY AND UNIVERSAL LOVE

show a scene of an elderly couplevery much in love; people call itobscene. But almost on a weeklybasis, they watch Malay dramaswhere husbands betray theirwives, marry more than one,

shout at their wives and beatthem. And this is not shocking?

On havinghumanity elementsin her workIf you believe in humanity, youwill care for everybody. Theinfluence to see a colourlesssociety came from my parents,particularly my mother whohas friends of all races. Shebrought up her children to havea positive interest in people whoare different. She often told methat people are people and whenyou see people who are differentfrom you, do not shut them outand do not suspect the worst inthem.

On her school daysMy mother deliberately enrolledme in a school where I was theonly Malay. I had some toughtimes. Some of my classmatessaid to my face that Malays arelazy and I even had teachers

who said [that] if you are Malaythen you cannot master English,Maths and Science.

I complained to my mumand she said that I shouldprove them wrong. When you

get people from other racesdiscriminating against you,you come to a crossroads youcan either make your future aschicken shit or chicken salad.I can feel this is a bad thing, Iwill never behave this way. Butmost people choose vengeance. Ichoose to make chicken salad.

in memory

Yasmins immortal words

Yasmin with

the bestfilm awardfor Gubraat the 19thMalaysiaFilm Festivalin 2006.