Large scale DVD pirating
Jo is a Malaysian student studying in England. He supports his studies by selling pirated DVDs from Malaysia in the UK. He’s about to make his biggest shipment yet: 175 movies. With gangsters in England who’ll pay 50 pounds a DVD, Jo thinks he has hit the jackpot. Too bad that on the day he wants to pick up his shipment, Kuala Lumpur is hit with the biggest anti-piracy raid in history. Jo has 24 hours to get 175 pirated DVDs in order to avoid being punished by his gangster friends in the UK.
The highly entertaining comedy “Ciplak” (Malay for cheat, piracy) was shot on a budget of US$ 5,000 by self-taught director Khairil M. Bahar, who also wrote the script and edited and acted in the movie. Despite its meager budget, it was shown in multiplex cinemas in Malaysia to great
critical acclaim.
The film is presented in its Cambodian premiere on the occasion of the launch of the new book “Southeast Asian Independent Cinema” by German film critic Dr. Tilman Baumgärtel, a professor at the Department of Media and Communication (DMC) at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).
“Ciplak” is an excellent example of the new independent cinema that has emerged in the last decade in most of the countries of Southeast Asia. Empowered by affordable digital technology and often working on incredibly low budgets, a new generation of film makers in countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia has put Southeast Asia on the map of international cinema.
The book features essays on and interviews with film directors such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lav Diaz, Brillante Mendoza, Eric Khoo, Yasmin Ahmand, Nia Dinata and Pen-ek Ratanaruang. It will be for sale
Friday, March 30, 2012 at the Meta House.
Look for more information on the book here.
Friday, 30 March 2012, 7:00 p.m.
Meta House, #37 Sothearos Boulevard, Songkhat Tonle Bassak, Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh