Tiger Stripes (film)

2023 film by Amanda Nell Eu

For other uses, see Tiger stripes.

Tiger Stripes

Promotional release poster

Directed by| Amanda Nell Eu
Written by| Amanda Nell Eu
Produced by|

* Foo Fei Ling
* Patrick Mao Huang
* Fran Borgia
* Juliette Lepoutre
* Pierre Menahem
* Jonas Weydemann
* Ellen Havenith
* Yulia Evina Bhara

Starring|

* Zafreen Zairizal
* Deena Ezral
* Piqa
* Shaheizy Sam
* June Lojong
* Khairunazwan Rodz
* Fatimah Abu Bakar

Cinematography| Jimmy Gimferrer
Edited by| Carlo Francisco Manatad
Music by| Gabber Modus Operandi

Production
company

Ghost Grrrl Pictures

Release date

* 17 May 2023 (2023-05-17) (Cannes)

Running time

| 95 minutes
Countries|

* Malaysia
* Taiwan
* Singapore
* France
* Germany
* Netherlands
* Indonesia
* Qatar

Language| Malay
Budget| €834,000[1]
Box office| €29,200

Tiger Stripes is a 2023 Malay-language body horror[2] film written and directed by Amanda Nell Eu in her directorial debut, starring Zafreen Zarizai, Deena Ezral and Piqa with Shaheizy Sam, June Lojong, Khairunazwan Rodz and Fatimah Abu Bakar in supporting roles. The film's plot follows an 11-year-old Zaffan whose body begins to undergo unsettling changes upon hitting puberty.

Tiger Stripes had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023 where it won the Critics' Week Grand Prize. An international co-production of eight countries including Malaysia, the film was selected as the Malaysian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.[3] The film was released in Malaysia censored, and the director has disowned the censored version of the film.[4]

## Premise

[edit]

Zaffan, an 11-year-old girl, starts to experience physical changes to her body when she is going through puberty.

## Cast

[edit]

* Zafreen Zairizal as Zaffan[5]
* Deena Ezral as Farah[5]
* Piqa as Mariam[5]
* Shaheizy Sam as Dr. Rahim, snake-oil exorcist[5]
* June Lojong as Munah[6]
* Khairunazwan Rodz
* Fatimah Abu Bakar as headteacher[5]

## Production

[edit]

The film is an international co-production project involving eight countries, including Weydemann Bros from Berlin, Germany, Foo Fei Ling of Ghost Grrrl Pictures from Malaysia, Fran Borgia of Akanga Film Asia from Singapore, and Yulia Evina Bhara of KawanKawan Media from Indonesia.[7] The development of the film began in 2017.[8] During its production, Tiger Stripes had collected seven project development credits, including Open Doors Locarno Festival, Network of Asian Fantastic Films, Talents Tokyo, NMSP Project Development Fund, Hubert Bals Fund Bright Future, Less Is More event, and SEAFIC Lab.[9]

## Release

[edit]

The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023.[10] It won the award for Critics' Week Grand Prize.[11] It also competed in the Official selection at the 56th Sitges Film Festival,[12] and served as the closing film of 2023 Jakarta Film Week.[13]

In April 2023, Jour2fête acquired its distribution rights in France.[14]

In Malaysia, the film was released on 19 October 2023 only after it had been censored, which prompted the director to disown the film, saying that the released film was not the film that she made and won the prize in Cannes.[4]

It was also invited at the 29th Busan International Film Festival in 'Special program in focus' Teenage Minds, Teenage Movies section and it will be screened in October 2024.[15]

## Critical reception

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 60 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "A clever and stylish riff on the body horror that is puberty, Tiger Stripes is an exuberant allegory for personal agency as well as an impressive debut for writer-director Amanda Nell Eu."[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[17]

Fionnuala Halligan of Screen International described the film as "a well observed, fiercely female-centred coming-of-age drama".[6] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film with three stars out of five and praised Nell Eu's direction and the younger cast's performances.[5]

## Accolades

[edit]

Award  | Date of ceremony  | Category  | Recipient(s)  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

Cannes Film Festival | 27 May 2023[a] | Critics' Week Grand Prix  | Amanda Nell Eu  | Won  | [19]
Caméra d'Or | Nominated  |

## See also

[edit]

* List of submissions to the 96th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
* List of Malaysian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
* Turning Red

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The award ceremony of the 62nd Critics' Week was held on 24 May 2024.[18]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Tiger Stripes". Cinéfondation. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023.
2. ^ Ferrarese, Marco (7 May 2023). "Malaysian feminist body horror Tiger Stripes to debut at Cannes". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
3. ^ Peter Tan, John (6 October 2023). "Tiger Stripes Chosen To Represent Malaysia At Next Year's Oscars". The Rakyat Post. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
4. ^ a b Frater, Patrick (19 October 2023). "'Tiger Stripes' Director Amanda Nell Eu Denounces Malaysian Censored Release of Oscar-Hopeful Film". Variety. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
5. ^ a b c d e f Bradshaw, Peter (17 May 2023). "Tiger Stripes review – coming-of-age body horror releases the monster inside". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
6. ^ a b Halligan, Fionnuala (17 May 2023). "'Tiger Stripes': Cannes Review". Screen International. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
7. ^ Meza, Ed (22 February 2020). "Weydemann Bros. boards Argentinean, Malaysian Productions". Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
8. ^ Wong, Silvia (1 July 2023). "'Tiger Stripes' director Amanda Nell Eu tracks the wild journey of the award-winning Malaysian film". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
9. ^ Frater, Patrick (18 May 2023). "'Tiger Stripes' Is Highly Developed Product of Indie Film Support System". Variety. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
10. ^ Dodman, Benjamin (20 May 2023). "Malaysian tweens earn their 'Tiger Stripes' in Cannes coming-of-age body horror". France 24. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
11. ^ Roxborough, Scott (24 May 2023). "Cannes: Malaysian Genre Mash-Up 'Tiger Stripes' Wins 2023 Critics' Week". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
12. ^ "The Festival's 56th Edition Kicks Off by Announcing its Complete Lineup". Sitges Film Festival. 12 September 2023. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
13. ^ Lavenia, Anastasya (31 October 2023). "Ditutup dengan Meriah, Jakarta Film Week 2023 Putar Film "Tiger Stripes"" [Closed with grandeur, 2023 Jakarta Film Week screens Tiger Stripes]. CXO Media. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
14. ^ Bataille, Emmanuel (19 April 2023). "Jour2fête distribuera " Tiger Stripes ", en compétition à Cannes". Écran Total. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
15. ^ "The 29th BIFF announces Special Program in Focus 'Teen Spirit, Teen Movie'". Busan International Film Festival. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
16. ^ "Tiger Stripes". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
17. ^ "Tiger Stripes". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
18. ^ "Programme 2023" (PDF) (in French). Critics' Week. p. 8. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
19. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (24 May 2023). "Cannes' Critics' Week Honors Malaysian Film 'Tiger Stripes' With Grand Jury Prize". Variety. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Tiger Stripes at IMDb
* Tiger Stripes at Rotten Tomatoes
* Tiger Stripes at Cannes Critics' Week

* v
* t
* e

Malaysian submissions for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

2004–present|

* The Princess of Mount Ledang (2004)
* Bunohan (2012)
* Men Who Save the World (2015)
* Beautiful Pain (2016)
* M for Malaysia (2019)
* Roh (2020)
* Hail, Driver! (2021)
* Tiger Stripes (2023)
* Abang Adik (2024)

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