Stone Turtle
Malaysia, Indonesia | 2022 | 91min
Director: Woo Ming Jin
Produced by: Edmund Yeo and Woo Ming Jin
Co-Produced by: Cheng Thim Kian, Yulia Evina Bhara (Indonesia)
Written by: Woo Ming Jin, Neesa Jamal and Deo Mahameru (Indonesia)
Edited by: Edmund Yeo
Director of Photography: Kong Pahurak (Thailand)
Production Designer: Liew Seng Tat
Music by Phil Chapavich (Thailand)
Animation by Paul Williams (UK/Japan)
Sound Designer and Re-recording Mixer: Chalermrat Kaweewattana (Thailand)
Starring：
Bront Palarae
Asmara Abigail (Indonesia)
Amerul Affendi
Maisyarah Mazlan
Alison Khor
Synopsis
Zahara, a stateless refugee, lives on a small remote island in Malaysia, where she makes a living selling turtle eggs. One day, Samad, claiming to be a university researcher, visits the island, wanting to employ Zahara to show him around. As the day goes on, Zahara and Samad become entangled in a dangerous dance of duplicity and deception.
Director's Note
I’m very proud that the hard effort of our entire team has resulted in a film that we’re very satisfied with, and that a top-tier, historical festival like Locarno has selected STONE TURTLE for its Main Competition section. This is our World Premiere, so it is the beginning of our film’s journey. We are looking forward to present our film alongside other great filmmakers in the world at Locarno.
STONE TURTLE is a story about inclusivity and taking risks, which also embodies the spirit of this film, we made this film with some of the great talents from different countries, we also made this film to preserve some of the memories of our long-forgotten local folklore.
Festival&Award
75th Locarno Film Festival
Concorso internazionale
Fest Hamburg 2022
Asia Express
Montreal Festival du nouveau cinéma 2022
Competition
Busan International Film Festival 2022
Window on Asian Cinema
Golden Rooster Awards/Film Festival 2022
International Film Section
Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2022
Golden Horse Film Festival 2022
Windows on Asia
Lima Alterna Festival Internacional de Cine 2022
Telescope Selection
International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg 2022
Pushing the Boundaries
WOO Ming Jin
One of the leading voices of the Malaysian New Wave, director Woo Ming Jin’s previous films have also garnered similar acclaim, he is the first Malaysian director in history to represent the country in the ‘Big Three’ International Film Festivals: Cannes, Berlin and Venice Film Festival.
Woo’s first film 'Monday Morning Glory’ (2005) having been selected to Berlin. His second ‘Elephant and the Sea’ (2007) won awards in Torino and Spain. His third film ‘Woman on Fire Looks for Water’ (2009) is only the second Malaysian feature film ever selected for Venice Orrizonti section, while Tiger Factory (2010) was only the third Malaysian film officially selected for Cannes.