Malaysian Gods (2009)

Genres - Culture & Society  |   Run Time - 70 min.  |   Countries - Malaysia  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

In Malaysia, elected officials aren't regarded the same way as politicians are in most countries. For years, Malaysians have been encouraged to view their leaders as blessed with an infallible wisdom, and the respect for the state bordered on worship. This began to change in the fall of 1998, when for the first time public protests took place against a high-ranking public official -- Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who had been accused of malfeasance of office and sexual affairs with other men. Since then, a new era of political and social reform began in Malaysia, but change has come very slowly to this nation, and it's not always easy to chart. Filmmaker Amir Muhammad examines the past and present of the Malaysian Reform Movement in the documentary Malaysian Gods, in which he interviews a number of ordinary citizens as they discuss their attitude toward politics, how the Ibrahim scandal changed their perceptions, and what they believe lies ahead. The wit and political commentary of Malaysian Gods was pointed enough that the film was banned in Malaysia; it has played a number of international film festivals outside Asia, including the 2010 Rotterdam International Film Festival.