PETALING JAYA, Feb 28 — It's confirmed! Lat's iconic work Kampung Boy is set to be immortalised on the big screen, according to reports.
Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid (more popularly known as Lat) is in talks with a French director to recreate the famous graphic novel, celebrated for its humorous social commentary on Malaysian life.
Lat, 67, said he was eventually persuaded by the Frenchman, who was not identified by Utusan Online, to bring his observational series to life.
“I’ve got lots of film friends interested to adapt my works into film. I said enough, I am tired of discussing Kampung Boy.
“However, when I received an offer from a director from Europe, I felt the need to discuss it,” he said.
Lat thought it wasn’t possible to work with the director who previously made a film about the life of children in 1950s Vietnam.
“If he wants to highlight kampung culture, Malay life in the village and Malaysia, what’s wrong (with that)?” he added.
The announcement was made earlier today at Muzium Negara where national treasure Lat was speaking at a forum held in conjunction with the museum’s "Cartoon and Us" exhibition.
He added a second meeting with the director is set to take place this evening. Topics up for discussion include filming location and who could play the lead role.
The indication is Kampung Boy the movie will be a live-action motion picture as opposed to the use of Lat’s familiar caricatures being animated.
Kampung Boy, an autobiographical retelling of Lat’s childhood experiences in rural Perak in the 1950s, was first published in 1979.
It was made into a 26-episode animated series in 1999.
The story is considered one of the most successful in South-east Asia, having been translated into 12 languages including Tamil, French, German and Korean.
