PETALING JAYA, July 12 — Malaysian horror film Dukun will be screened at the 17th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) tomorrow in New York.
Directed by Dain Iskandar Said, the film joins 57 other films from China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
The screening also doubles as the international premiere for the film, which was kept in cold storage for 12 years due to the similarities to the infamous Mona Fandey case that shocked Malaysians in the early 90s.
Dukun tells the tale of Diana Dahlan (played by Umie Aida), a singer and shaman who is put on trial for the death of a businessman during a black magic ritual gone awry.
Malaysia has two films in the festival, the other being Nam Ron’s third feature film Crossroads: One Two Jaga, a crime thriller about police corruption and illegal immigrants.
The screening, which took place yesterday at the Walter Reade Theatre for its North American premiere was attended by Nam Ron and actor Ario Bayu who participated in a Q&A session.
According to its webpage, NYAFF selects films that “reflect on contemporary society” and showcases a wide variety of genres from the Asian region.
Dukun will be screened tomorrow at 6.15pm at the SVA Theatre in New York’s Chelsea neighbourhood.
Find out more here.
