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ID: 086848

Decolonization and the nation in Malay film, 1955-1965 / Barnard, Timothy P

Barnard, Timothy P	Journal Article
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Publication

2009.

Summary/Abstract

This article uses films made between 1955 and 1965 in the Chinese-owned, Malay-dominated, Singapore-based film industry as texts to analyse the attitudes of Malay activists in the film industry towards merdeka, or independence, in Malaya. It is argued that these activists were rarely interested in the process of political decolonization in the nation-state. Instead, the films made during this period used traditional local texts to promote Malay attitudes towards modernity, individualism and ethnic pride. This era of film-making ended in the mid-1960s as many of their hopes surrounding the possibilities of this new era did not come to fruition.

Key Words

Decolonization ; Malay Film ; Merdeka ; P Ramlee ; Jamil Sulong

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ID: 086847

Winning hearts and minds: representations of Malays and their milieu in the films of British Malaya / Muthalib, Hassan Abd

Muthalib, Hassan Abd	Journal Article
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Publication

2009.

Summary/Abstract

A comparison of Malay films produced in the 1950s in the Chinese-owned, Singapore-based Malay film industry with those produced in the Kuala Lumpur-based, government-supported Malayan Film Unit (MFU) exposes many similarities in how Malays were represented on film in the lead-up to Malayan independence in 1957. While the social realist films produced in Singapore urged ordinary Malays to accept changes that were occurring in society and the films produced by the MFU reinforced government propaganda and helped develop new heroes for the nation, both traditions portrayed Malays as being very comfortable and prosperous in an idyllic rural environment.

Key Words

Documentary ; Hero ; Malay Film ; Malayan Film Unit ; P. Ramlee

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