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

Festival&Award

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.

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

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.

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

53rd International Film Festival of India

Official Selection

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.