Brunei shoots for the stars with trailblazing first commercial film

Yasmine, directed by Brunei's first female director and starring novice actors, is about a girl who wants to be a silat champion

A scene from Yasmine, about a girl who wants to be a silat champion
A scene from Yasmine, about a girl who wants to be a silat champion. Photograph: Origin Films

There is a joke in Brunei that if you're not shopping, driving or eating, then you must be watching a film. In this small, Muslim-majority sultanate where alcohol and live music are banned, the cinema is often the most exciting place to be.

The south-east Asian country's five cinemas almost always showcase Hollywood blockbusters and Malaysian or Indonesian dramedies. But next year something entirely different will be hitting the screens: Brunei's first ever commercial feature film.

Yasmine is a coming-of-age tale about a girl who wants to become a champion at silat – Brunei's hypnotic and dance-like answer to kung fu. It represents a number of firsts for this country of 406,000: not only is the $2m project Brunei's first ever box-office movie, it is being directed by the country's first female director and stars a number of first-time actors.
A still from Yasmine A still from Yasmine. Photograph: Origin Films

"Everyone is going through a learning process," says Siti Kamaluddin from her director's chair on set, where she is filming a silat scene in a university auditorium near Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.

"Working with inexperienced crew is challenging, and it's my first time directing a feature film, so all of us are going through this," she adds. "It's been a wonderful journey, but I'm not going to kid anybody by saying it's easy."

Although Brunei boasts the second-highest standard of living in south-east Asia (just behind Singapore, according to UN data) and its population is among the richest in the world – thanks to vast oil and gas reserves – its culture remains, for the most part, deeply traditional. The last film ever made here was a 1960s how-to guide by the ministry of religious affairs about being a good citizen.

Half a century later, not much has changed. The nation's only TV broadcaster, Radio Television Brunei (RTB), still airs government campaigns and quiz shows among its educational, religious and drama programmes, and there exists an apparent chasm between those who want to protect Brunei's family-oriented culture from outside influence – some ministers even fear Brunei could be "diluted" through tourism – with others, like Siti and her producer brother Khairuddin, seeking to promote it instead.

"We are creative people," explains Khairuddin during a break on set. "We're full of poets and writers and I want to showcase Brunei in ways that haven't been done before."

The siblings – who together run Brunei's first film company, Origin Films, and its sister company Origin Artistic Management – have spent the past four years working on Yasmine and have drafted in expertise from all over the region due to Brunei's lack of local technical and creative know-how. Silat stunts are choreographed and directed by one of Jackie Chan's right-hand men – Hong Kong stunt veteran Chan Man Ching – with other crew and actors hailing from Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.

But the film's protagonist, Liyana Yus, is a 20-year-old Bruneian and novice actor who has spent the past year "getting into character" in a very Hollywood-like way. After dropping out of school, she has gone only by the name Yasmine and spends five hours a day with Chan Man Ching working out and practising silat.

"All of my friends have been asking me, 'How did you get the part?'" she laughs shyly. "Being an actress never crossed my mind, but I thought I'd go for the audition and I got the part."

The Kamaluddins hope that Yasmine – aimed for distribution in south-east Asia next year – will help show the "real" Brunei to outsiders, who largely know this former British protectorate as a tax-free haven that often tops "most boring tourist destination" lists. In many ways, the most exciting news since Brunei won its independence in 1984, was when the sultan's playboy brother Prince Jefri Bolkiah was accused in the 1990s of embezzling $14.8bn as finance minister and running a 40-strong harem stocked with international beauties. (Investigators also discovered the prince owned, among an extensive art and property portfolio, over 2,000 cars, eight planes and a yacht named Tits).
On the set of Yasmine, makeup artists work on one of the actors On the set of Yasmine, makeup artists work on one of the actors. Photograph: Origin FIlms

Industry experts have pointed to Brunei's nascent film scene as a potentially lucrative source of income – its jungles and mangroves providing a unique backdrop for action and wilderness films – and the Bruneian government has backed Yasmine with some $120,000, telling the Guardian that it hoped the film would "inspire and encourage more locals to follow [the Kamaluddins'] footsteps".

But Siti – who insisted that every actor use the Bruneian dialect of Malay for authenticity – hopes for a wider and more encompassing outcome: a regional understanding of her little-understood and oft-maligned nation.

"You see a typical Hollywood high school movie – it's all about their lives," she explains. "When Yasmine goes to school, she's wearing a tudong (hijab). She has her boy problems, she fights with her parents, her grandmother eats ambuyat (a local delicacy) and lives in the water village and uses a water taxi [to get around]. I make it look really normal. Not like in a documentary-style film, but in an everyday setting. I just want to show that, yes, this is part of our culture, but actually, everybody is the same."

The art of silat

Practised all across south-east Asia, silat in Brunei uses six core attack techniques and varies from fighting with bare hands to using sticks, swords or daggers. Once hugely popular, it has since been replaced by other sports such as football, karate and hapkido, though it is historically said to have helped Brunei defend its kingdom from intruders. Champions are pressing for silat to be included in the Olympic Games.

Reza Rahadian Bintangi Film Mancanegara Pertama


Kapanlagi.com - Aktor Reza Rahadian membintangi film internasional pertamanya YASMINE: THE FINAL FIST produksi Brunei Darussalam yang akan dirilis di Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, dan Hong Kong.

"Ketika bertemu dengan Siti (sutradara) dan dijelaskan akan bikin film apa dan ceritanya tentang apa, saya langsung tertarik. Saya seneng banget, ini adalah tantangan berkolaborasi dengan tim yang bagus dari berbagai negara," ujar Reza dalam konferensi pers yang berlangsung di i-Centre Auditorium, Bandar Seri Begawan, Jumat (22/03).

Ia mengungkapkan, dalam film ini, dirinya akan berperan bersama bintang film Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia, serta diarahkan oleh tim produksi profesional dari China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, dan Brunei Darussalam.

YASMINE: THE FINAL FIST merupakan film layar lebar pertama produksi Brunei Darussalam yang akan dirilis secara internasional. Film ini disutradarai Siti Kamaluddin, yang merupakan sutradara perempuan pertama di Brunei Darussalam.

Dalam film bergenre action drama ini Reza menjadi pemeran utama pria, sedangkan pemeran utama wanita adalah aktris Brunei Liyana Yus yang berperan sebagai Yasmine. "Saya berperan sebagai Fahri, ayah Yasmine. Saya menjadi orang tua 'single parent'," katanya.

Selain Reza, aktor Indonesia yang turut menjadi bintang utama film ini adalah aktor Agus Kuncoro.

Film ini bercerita tentang seorang gadis, Yasmine (Liyana Yus) yang patah hati. Bosan dengan kegiatan sekolah dan menjadi anggota ekskul silat yang dipandang sebelah mata, Yasmine memutuskan untuk mengatasi masalahnya sendiri dan memimpin sebuah tim silat.

Awalnya hal itu berjalan mulus. Namun, sang ayah yang belakangan mengetahui kegiatannya berusaha menghentikan langkah putrinya tersebut karena menganggap silat akan menghancurkan masa depannya.

Film berdurasi 90 menit ini bergenre action drama dan direncanakan rilis pada awal 2014.

Ifa Isfansyah Menyiapkan Pendekar Tongkat Emas

Sutradara ini sedang membuat film berdasarkan cerita silat
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Film-film pendeknya di berbagai festival film internasional maupun Sang Penari, yang membuatnya meraih penghargaan sebagai sutradara terbaik dari Festival Film Indonesia 2011, berkategori film-drama. Tapi Ifa Isfansyah tak jeri untuk mencoba genre lain. “Sudah lama ingin bikin film silat,” katanya, tentang Pendekar Tongkat Emas, proyek terbarunya. Ia bekerjasama dengan Miles kali ini. Mira Lesmana menjadi produser. Jujur Prananto akan menulis skenario.

Ifa menyutradarai film-filmnya tanpa bayangan akhir, “Saya bekerja dengan konsep organik.” Ia meminta para pemain untuk ikut memberi pendapat. Meski persiapan sudah matang, tapi dalam proses pembuatan film apa saja bisa terjadi. Cuaca, kondisi alam atau kendala-kendala tak terduga ikut mempengaruhi hasil. Karena itu, menurut Ifa, kekurangan dalam film pun sering tak terhindarkan. “Tapi di saat editing, kita kadang menemukan lagi kejutan,” katanya.

Syuting Pendekar Tongkat Emas akan dimulai akhir tahun ini. (LC) Fotografer: Astrid Herwinda, Pengarah gaya: Freddy Martin

Christine Hakim Latihan Beladiri untuk Film Silat Produksi Mira Lesmana

Christine Hakim


AKTRIS Senior Christine Hakim memang sosok wanita pekerja keras dan tak henti berkarya.

Buktinya, kini ia sedang menjalankan proses syuting dan penggarapan film terbaru.

Diproduseri Mira Lesmana, film ini akan mengangkat berbagai adegan martial arts atau ilmu bela diri.

Tokoh yang diperankan oleh Christine juga tak jauh dari tema ini, yaitu menjadi seorang pendekar yang memiliki sebuah padepokan silat.

Ini menuntut dirinya mempelajari ilmu bela diri, walaupun di usianya yang sudah memasuki 56 tahun.

“Saya latihan seminggu bisa sampai tiga kali bersama Nicholas Saputra, Reza Rahadian dan Eva Celia,” ujar wanita yang pernah berperan dalam film Eat Pray Love bersama Julia Roberts kepada Bintang Online, Kamis (29/8).

Pemeran utama Cinta Pertama ini menjelaskan bahwa filmnya mengangkat hal yang mirip dengan apa yang ada di dalam film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tentunya dengan detail cerita yang berbeda. "Saya di sini sebagai pemilik padepokan silat."

Walau belum menyebutkan judul, film ini direncanakan tayang Maret 2014.