Freedom Filmfest 2007 Most Outstanding Human Rights Film

'Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka' telah dianugerahkan "Most Outstanding Human Rights Film" (Filem Hak Asasi Paling Menyerlah) di Freedom Filmfest 2007, malam tadi. Berikut merupakan kenyataan rasmi dari hakim-hakim Freedom Filmfest.


"Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka by Fahmi Reza

The relevance of this film to Malaysia's current social and political context cannot be stressed enough. Using as its starting point a most intriguing strategy of civil disobedience – the hartal – this film takes on issues of political participation, colonialism, freedom of association, assembly and expression, and even manages to ask razor-sharp questions about the function of a Constitution, all without skipping a beat. To have these issues explored right in the middle of a very interesting point in Malaysia's development - the state-led euphoria of 50 years of Merdeka and threats to the supremacy of the Constitution are two things that spring to mind – is courageous. To have these issues researched so thoroughly and presented so convincingly is an admirable exercise in intellectual integrity. And to have everything presented so confidently and engagingly, with such dramatic intensity, hails a most welcome development in Malaysian filmmaking.

From the 'God Save the Queen' opening, this film is a fast-paced, absorbing documentary with very strong and creative production values - including strong editing, clever graphics, terrific music soundtrack, and effective use of archive footage and photographs -and compelling characters who bring the past alive. The judges especially like the deliberate absence of an external narrator, and the film was very well researched. Fahmi's film will appeal to its target young audience, as well as Malaysians old enough to remember these events.

A winner."