Malaysian director and filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu has earned her stripes, if the success of her breakthrough coming-of-age feature film, Tiger Stripes, is any indication. Now, she is set to add another quill to her feathered cap with a nod from both the Cannes Film Festival and luxury conglomerate Kering.
In a press statement that was issued earlier yesterday on the matter, the 38-year-old Kuala Lumpur native is expected to receive the Women In Motion Emerging Talent Award, after a rigorous selection process that saw the London Film School alum being chosen by last year’s awardee, Swiss filmmaker Carmen Jaquier. The award comes with a grant amounting to €50,000 (RM255,000.00), which is meant to help fund the winner’s subsequent project.
Amanda Nell Eu to be honoured with award at Cannes Film Festival
This isn’t her first waltz on the Cannes circuit of course, as the Tiger Stripes scriptwriter had previously nabbed the Critics’ Week Grand Prize during last year’s iteration of the esteemed event. Following that, the film was subsequently selected to represent Malaysia’s entry into the Best International Feature Film category during this year’s 96th Academy Awards but lost to Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest.
As for this year’s Women In Motion Emerging Talent Award, it will be presented to Nell Eu by François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes, as part of the Women In Motion dinner during Cannes. Dame Donna Langley, Chairman of the NBCUniversal Studio Group and Chief Content Officer, is also due to receive the Women In Motion Award on the same night.
Explaining her selection criteria, Jaquier said “Upon discovering the wild energy emanating from Tiger Stripes, I felt joy and remembered certain strange and violent tales from my childhood.” Describing the film as a ‘jubilant, unique film’ that has disrupted the coming-of-age genre, she adds that Nell Eu’s work is a reminder of cinema’s place of invention and insolence in the artistic field.
“I am incredibly honored to receive this award, and I want to give an extra thank you to the super bold director Carmen Jaquier. Thank you also to Women In Motion; I am already so grateful that I get to have my voice and use it and express it in a way that is free to me, so to receive this recognition is really special.” Nell Eu said on account of the win. She also took the opportunity to express her appreciation for her ‘Tiger family’, without whose efforts the film would not have been made possible.
The Kering Women In Motion Award was established to serve as a platform to promote the influence of women in the culture and arts, specifically through film. Since its debut in 2015, the award has recognised the contributions of those working both before and behind the lens, with prior recipients including such luminaries as Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, and even Michelle Yeoh.
The 75th Cannes Film Festival is set to take place on May 14th this year.
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Feature and hero image credits: Amanda Nell Eu/Instagram, Lifestyle Asia KL
This article first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Kuala Lumpur
