“Tiger Stripes”, a Malay-language arthouse horror film, became the first Malaysian film to win the main prize for ‘Best Feature’ at the Cannes’ Critics’ Week, a sidebar to the famed Cannes Film Festival.
Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu’s debut film earned the EUR 10,000 (USD 10,718) top prize at the Cannes Critics Week. The 37-year-old Eu is Malaysia’s first female filmmaker to have a film shown at Cannes, and Tiger Stripes is only the fourth Malaysian feature film to be featured in Cannes, and the first since 2010.
The film is still up for the Camera d’Or award, given to the finest first-feature film exhibited in one of Cannes’ choices (Official Selection, Directors’ Fortnight, or International Critics’ Week).
According to Screen Daily, Audrey Diwan, the jury president of Critics’ Week 2023, described the “Tiger Stripes” as “irreverent and uncompromising. Its content is to fully assume its seductive singularity without trying to please. It was the first film we viewed from the choices. It has stood the test of time.”