Taking liberties: independent filmmakers representing the tudung in Malaysia

Since 2000, digital technology has democratized fi lmmaking in Malaysia, giving rise to a new generation of international fi lm festival award-winning directors. Numerous private colleges and universities began to offer fi lm and animation courses; the Kelab Seni Filem Malaysia (Art Film Club) screened foreign fi lms and also ran special screenings on Malaysian short fi lms and documentaries several times a year; fi lm festivals increased and there began to be overlaps between local fi lm activists and social activism, manifested in the Freedom Film Fest offerings which focused on human rights. 1 In 2005, the Goethe-Institut in Kuala Lumpur and the Multimedia Development Corporation initiated and sponsored a short fi lm competition on the subject of the tudung (headscarf). 2 The competition intended to highlight “creative visual attempts that lend themselves best to portraying the width of social and religious functions performed by the ‘tudung’ right up to its current status of being a fashionable designer item and an accessory.”