FINAS Chooses Horror Film ‘Roh’ As Malaysia’s Submission For The Oscars

By Ameera Rosli  •  04 Nov 2020 in News

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After Parasite’s unanimously celebrated win at the Oscars last year as the first foreign film to win the coveted Best Picture award, many foreign filmmakers were inspired and driven to create their best projects knowing that they might have a chance at the trophy themselves.

Ever since 2004, Malaysia has been submitting our finest works to the Oscars in hopes of being recognised worldwide for our enshrouded talent and unique ASEAN perspective amidst the saturation of Western narratives. With entries such as Puteri Gunung Ledang, Bunohan, Lelaki Harapan Dunia and other equally fantastic works, we like to think we’re inching closer and closer towards that goal.

This year, FINAS, the government body that selects the film submissions, has chosen Roh as our 2021 entry.

This is a major win for indie production company Kuman Pictures who specialises in low budget horror and thriller flicks. It was only a few months ago when they kickstarted a competition to showcase budding talents in our film industry in hopes to reinvigorate our love and appreciation for Malaysian filmmaking.

Now, the company’s work has been chosen to represent Malaysia at the Oscars, an achievement they’ve been striving towards for years.

When Roh was first released in theatres last year, Malaysians scurried over to the cinemas to catch this arthouse motion picture. Garnering rave reviews from critics as well as praise from regular filmgoers, Roh disproved the idea that low budget horror films were less worthy of acclamation as compared to dramatic epics.

For the uninitiated, Roh is a slow burn horror film that centres around a mysterious entity that lurks in the forest. With a heavy emphasis on atmosphere, score and character building, Roh is not your typical jumpscare fest.

The film follows a family living in a forest who one day, takes in a peculiar girl under their wing. As a result, the girl prophesizes that the family will die in the next full moon. From there, the eeriness ensues.

Check out the trailer below:

We at JUICE would like to congratulate Kuman Pictures for this incredible feat. We hope to see more from this promising production in the future.