Lampumerahmati

Director: Woo Ming JinCast: Patrick Teoh, Azmon HassanMalaysia | 2005 | 87 mins | Color | Narrative | English, Malay w/E.S.Known mainly for his prize-winning ironic short, Love for Dogs, with its slacker protagonist, Woo Ming Jin’s first feature is—to outsiders used to Hollywood stereotypes—a seemingly offbeat approach to a movie about terrorists. Set in a fictitious country, Woo’s film follows a group of ordinary-looking types who are shepherded by the police as they describe and reenact their terrorist deed to a group of journalists in and around their jungle headquarters. Although it may look strange, the on-site reenactment for the media and the public is commonly done for terrorism cases in Southeast Asia and South America. The film’s incident is not based on any real-life terrorist attack, but Woo’s approach was inspired after seeing photos of suspects of the Bali bombing reenacting their meetings on location, complete with large name tags around their necks. Shot in a verité style (by award-winning filmmaker James Lee), Woo’s film is an indictment not only of the terrorists but also the corruption of the authorities who pursue them. One of the terrorists, Kosovo, is released but then shot by the police to stop him from revealing the truth—a different truth from the rehearsed statement he gave to the press. — Roger Garcia