Debut feature “Tiger Stripes” has already amassed several firsts – it is the first Malaysian film in Cannes for several years and director Amanda Nell Eu is the country’s first female helmer selected for a festival appearance – and it is now releasing its first trailer.
The film, which will play in the Cannes Critics’ Week section is the tale of an 11-year-old girl who starts to experience horrifying changes to her body. Eu says that the film is both a metaphor for issues of female identity and the arrival of puberty and also a body horror entertainer.
“This comes from my dark sense of humor. People always label young girls as little monsters. They say that teenage girls are emotional or crazy or hysterical. So, my thinking was ‘why don’t I tell a story about a young girl who actually does turn into a monster’ and let me show you what a monster is. It is a metaphor and a genre film,” she told PvNew.
“So, it has couple of labels. But I think that’s what makes it quite fun and exciting. Hopefully we can reach a young audience that that can relate to it [immediately]. But I also believe people a bit older can relate to it and remember what it was like when they were younger or maybe even what they are going through right now in their adult life.
“I think it’s quite universal experience where people sometimes feel like they’re being labelled as a monster. [But] let’s embrace that, celebrate it and be proud of ourselves.”
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