KUCHING, Mar 2: Theatres across Malaysia will debut a film in May chronicling the rise and fall of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s political career.
Following Anwar from the time he was appointed finance minister in 1991 until his dismissal from the Cabinet in 1998, the film titled ‘Anwar, The Untold Story’ covers that time period.
According to a national daily, the film’s executive producer Zukiflee Anwar Haque, or Zunar, stated that the story in the film is based on Anwar’s version, a version that Malaysians rarely hear, such as the story of his full investigation report when he was locked up.
Zunar explained that the film is based on interviews with the individuals involved as well as publicly accessible documents.
In ‘Anwar, The Untold Story’, directed by Indonesia’s Viva Westi, Farid Kamil Zahari plays Anwar, and Hasnul Rahmat plays former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Meanwhile, Indonesian actress Acha Septriasa plays Anwar’s wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Zunar also mentioned that the idea to make the film was first proposed around 20 years ago, at the start of the ‘Reformasi’ movement, long before Anwar became the 10th Prime Minister.
Zunar went on to say that he’d been following Anwar’s story since the ‘Reformasi’ movement and had always wanted to turn it into a film, but that it wasn’t until he got in touch with Viva in August of 2021 that he was finally able to do so.
The film ‘Anwar, The Untold Story’ will focus on Anwar’s time spent in prison as well as his fight against corruption.
Zunar was quoted as saying, “Whether Anwar becomes Prime Minister or not was something that did not arise. It was that we believed that the message was good and should be conveyed to the public and used as historical documentation.
“However, you could say that we were lucky because as soon as the film was completed, the political scenario changed and it is a bonus for us that we can finally screen the movie in cinemas soon.” — DayakDaily
