Saturday, May 22, 2021

 

This world’s first zombie movie is bagging Best Horror awards with its indigenous actors and setting

  • Malaysian zombie film Belaban Hidup: Infeksi Zombie (Fight for Life: Zombie Infection) is the first to feature former headhunting tribe the Iban
  • Malaysian, Iban and international actors join native Ibans who have never acted in a film before

KUALA LUMPUR -- Dayaks -- an umbrella term for the many indigenous groups in the Malaysian state of Sarawak and the neighboring Indonesian province of Kalimantan -- have been largely excluded from mainstream representations of their nations. Thanks to a recent wave of popular music and film, though, the former headhunters from the island of Borneo are bringing their waning culture and languages to the outside world.

A low-budget independent horror film, "Belaban Hidup: Infeksi Zombi" ("Fight for Your Life: Zombie Infection," 2021) by director Ray Lee, has bagged multiple awards at international film festivals with its unusual plot featuring Iban warriors -- also known as Sea Dayaks -- fighting flesh-eating zombies.

Mostly shot in the Borneo jungle using traditional Iban costumes, and with an international cast featuring Slovakian actress Katrina Grey and Indonesian singer Tegar Septian, "Belaban Hidup" is the world's first zombie-invasion film with a Dayak setting. It is also the first feature film produced by a Dayak: Lee's wife, Misha Minut, who comes from the Sarawak town of Limbang.

Originally produced in 2016 as a short film, "Belaban Hidup" was released as a full-length feature film earlier this year after a long battle to secure funding. Lee says that shooting the film was also a challenge. "We had to travel 20 km deep into the jungle, transferring all the equipment into a four-wheel drive, and driving into the forest at the mercy of unpredictable weather and wild animals."

But the hard-earned authenticity of its indigenous setting is also what helped this racy B-movie stand out in the crowded zombie-invasion genre. Action scenes in an empty mall, paired with the use of a police task force and gritty, old-school photography, make "Belaban Hidup" look like a Southeast Asian version of the American zombie cult film "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) by George A. Romero.

Top: A poster for Malaysian independent horror film "Belaban Hidup: Infeksi Zombi" ("Fight for Your Life: Zombie Infection," 2021). Bottom: Director Ray Lee shows fresh footage to the Iban zombie crew on the set. (Courtesy of Hornbill Films) 

In "Belaban Hidup," a mysterious organization moves from Madagascar to Borneo to set up a bogus clinic and offer free medical treatment to the natives in order to continue experimenting on humans. But when a group of young captives manages to escape, so do the zombies, unleashing the infection upon the nearby rainforest. Taken by surprise, the resident Iban fight back, complete with ethnic garb, feathered warrior headdresses and indigenous swords and blowpipes -- a striking visual tribute to the producer's Iban ancestry.   

Paired with the film's well-choreographed jungle photography, its unusual tribal characters and setting make "Belaban Hidup" unforgettable. After winning the Horror and Science Fiction category at the 2021 Singapore World Film Carnival on March 18, and Best Film and Best Horror at the St. Petersburg's International Symbolic Art Film Festival on March 27, Lee's debut film went viral on Malaysian social media, receiving praise from Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin even before screening at local cinemas.

"Belaban Hidup" went on to win Best Horror Film at the Sweden Film Awards, and Best Feature Film at the Canadian Diversity Film Festival in April, and will premiere in Los Angeles in May at the next edition of the Asian World Film Festival.

Top: A still from "Belaban Hidup." Bottom: Lee instructs the Iban warrior crew on the set. (Courtesy of Hornbill Films)

Only two other Malaysian films have used Iban settings since Malaysian independence from the U.K. in 1957 and the subsequent absorption of the former British colony of Sarawak in 1963. "Chinta Gadis Rimba" ("Love of a Forest Maiden," 1958) produced in Singapore by L. Krishnan, told a story of forbidden love between an Iban girl and her Malay lover, while "Bejalai" ("To go on a journey," 1989) by Stephen Teo, described the ritual journey that Iban boys take to transition into adulthood and was the first Malaysian movie in the Iban language.

The best-known international film with an Iban setting is the British-American historical drama "The Sleeping Dictionary" (2003) set in the 1930s and starring Jessica Alba as the Anglo-Iban girl Selima and Hugh Dancy as her English lover. However, none of these films were produced or directed by Dayaks. "We deserve our own film industry," says Minut, who hopes that her debut will inspire other Dayak filmmakers.