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She is no longer among us. But she will always be remembered. I am taking about the genius film maker Yasmin Ahmad. As I was doing some spring cleaning, I found this interesting article on her. So today I am highlighting this article that was published in theSun newspaper on April 4, 2006
Headline : Captured Moments
By Bissme S
For Yasmin Ahmad, making movies is akin to recording snatches of life on celluloid. Whether she is shooting for commercials or movies, the results are never far from the realities of living.
They speak to us of moments that touch our hearts. Watching them, we cry a little and we laugh a little. Her uncanny ability to capture this has been recognised in a series of awards for her Petronas commercials and for her critically acclaimed 2005 movie Sepet.
The director has also completed a sequel to that movie. Gubra, whichopens on Thursday, continues where Sepet ended. The audience will finally learn the outcome of the love story between Orked and Jason.
Yasmin, who is a busy creative director of one of the country’s top advertising firms, advises the audience to stay on for the credits at the end of that movie. Her creative energy seems to have no bounds. It makes us wonder how much of her own life experiences have influenced her work.Here, Yasmin recounts 10 significant incidences in her life that have shaped the person she is now.
1) “The day when I was carted off to a place I had never beenbefore. There, I found many people of my age who were wearing the same (kind of) clothes as I. We were herded around by the authorities of that place. Some were brandishing ‘weapons of torture’ in their hands.Some of us were crying and some even wet their pants out of fear. “Oh, I am referring to my first day at school!”
2)“The day I went abroad (England) to further my studies. A bunch of usarrived at a strange place in the dark of the night. It was cold and there was some confusion as to where we were supposed to spend the night.“I never felt so lonely or homesick in my life. That terrible feeling of abandonment almost never left me for the next 10 years of my stay abroad.”
3)"The day I telephoned my fiance’s mother and found out that he had died in an accident. I was only 19."
4) “The night I won my first advertising award. I had only joined the industry for few months and it was my first commercial.”
5) "The day when I got married. After the akad nikah ceremony was over, my husband and I went to our bedroom to perform our first prayer together. At the end of it, we held each other’s hand and wept with joy.”
6) “The day our divorce was finalised. Just after the divorce, we sat on the bench outside the religious office, looked at each other and wept with sadness.”
7) “The day I woke up and saw the world spinning. I got my then boyfriend to take me to the doctor. My blood pressure had shot up. I was hospitalised for a week. Thankfully, my blood pressure is normal now.”
8)The day I married my present husband. The akad nikah was conducted in a small mosque in Subang Jaya. It was drizzling outside. I remembered gazing at the greenery surrounding the mosque and feeling at peace with the world.”
9)“The day I performed the haj with Dr Jemilah Mahmood, now one of my best friends. It took place just before my second marriage. As the plane approached the holy land, we were asked to call out to God: ‘You have summoned me, O Lord, so here I am’. I broke into tears.”
10) “The night Sepet won the top award at Creteil International Festival in Paris. Sepet was up against films selected for the Venice Film Festival (which were made) by directors who had been nominated for Oscars.My mother hugged me on stage, then turned to the audience and waved the bouquet of flowers presented to her.My father remained seated in the audience but I could see him wiping his tears of pride. The joy on my parents’ faces made all the struggles worthwhile.”
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