Yasmin Ahmad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.

Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)

This is a Malay name; the name "Ahmad" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, "Yasmin".

Yasmin binti Ahmad

Born

7 January 1958[1] Kampung Bukit Treh, Muar, Johor, Malaysia

Died

25 July 2009 (aged 51)

Occupation

Film director, film writer,scriptwriter

Spouse

Tan Yew Leong (20032009, her death)

Parents

Ahmad Hashim (father) Inom Yon (mother)

Yasmin Ahmad (January 7, 1958 - July 25, 2009) was a film director, writer and scriptwriter from Malaysia and was also the executive creative director at Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur. Her television commercials and films are well-known in Malaysia for their humour, heart and love that crosses cross-cultural barriers, in particular her ads for Petronas, the national oil and gas company. Her works have won multiple awards both within Malaysia and internationally. However in Malaysia itself, her films are highly controversial since they depict events and relationships seen as forbidden by social conservatives, especially hard-line interpretations of Islam.
Contents
[hide]
[2]

1 Early life and career 2 Breakthrough

3 Death 4 Filmography

o o o

4.1 Telemovie 4.2 Films 4.3 Commercials and Short Films

5 Awards and nominations 6 References 7 External links

[edit]Early

life and career

Yasmin was born in Kampung Bukit Treh in Muar, Johor on Jan 7, 1958. A graduate in arts majoring in politics and psychology University in England
[4] [3]

from Newcastle

, she worked as a trainee banker in 1982 for two

weeks then working for IBM as a marketing representative while moonlighting as a blues singer and pianist by night. Yasmin began her career in advertising as a copywriter at Ogilvy & Mather and in 1993 she moved to Leo Burnett as joint creative director with Ali Mohammed, eventually rising to executive creative director at the firm's Kuala Lumpur branch. [edit]Breakthrough Her first feature length film
[5]

was Rabun in 2002. Mukhsin won an

international children's best feature film award and special mention under the children's jury awards.
[6]

Most of her commercials and films have been

screened at the Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore international film festivals and the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival (not to be confused with the other Cannes Film Festival). Her films were featured in a special retrospective
[7]

at the 19th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2006.

[8]

An April 2007 retrospective

of her feature films was sponsored by the

Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawaii, and the Honolulu Academy of Arts. In Singapore, Yasmin is best known for the pro-family commercials she did for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports . Yasmin was inducted into the Malaysian Advertising Hall of Fame by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia in November 2008
[10] [9]

.Yasmin was working on her first feature film to be filmed in Singapore

titled, "Go, Thaddeus!" when she died. This was to be an inspirational film for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, based on the book, "Running the full distance: Thaddeus Cheong" by Belinda Wee about Singapore's 17 year old National triathlete who died after completing the 2007 SEA Games time trial.

[edit]Death On Thursday, July 23, 2009, Yasmin suffered a stroke and remained motionless, seated, she was resting her head on the table, with her hands cupping her face, while attending a meeting with local artist Siti Nurhaliza and her husband Khalid Mohamad Jiwa, and Media Prima representatives for an undisclosed project at Sri Pentas, TV3
[11]

. Before the meeting, she spent

some time with Media Prima's group creative director, Peter Chin and was reported to be in a jovial and relaxed mood. She was rushed to the Damansara Specialist Hospital where she underwent a neurosurgery procedure to reduce the swelling in her brain. The operation was a success however her condition was critical but stable
[11]

. Bernama quoted her brother-in-law, Zakaria Zahari, as saying that

[10]

Yasmin had suffered a stroke and hemorrhaging in the brain

On Saturday, July 25, 2009, more than 48 hours after the surgery, Yasmin Ahmad succumbed to her injury and was pronounced dead at 11.25pm . On Sunday, July 26, 2009, Yasmin Ahmad was laid to rest at the USJ 22 Muslim Cemetery in Subang Jaya, Selangor. Her husband, Abdullah Tan Yew Leong, their immediate families, hundreds of fans, friends, industry colleagues and personalities gathered to bid her farewell. [edit]Filmography [edit]Telemovie
[9]

Rabun (My Failing Eyesight) (2003)

[edit]Films

Sepet (Slit Eyes) (2004) Gubra (Anxiety) (2006) Mukhsin (2007) Muallaf (The Convert) (2008) Talentime (2009)

[edit]Commercials

and Short Films

Petronas TV Commercial (for Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali & National Day)

Yuzy (2000) Petronas Road Safety Campaign Vas Dentures (2000) Celcom

Tan Hong Ming In Love (2007) Petronas Merdeka Day commercial Family (2008) for the Singaporean Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

Funeral (2009) for the Singaporean Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

Chocolate (2009) for 15Malaysia (released posthumously 19 Aug 2009)

[12]

[edit]Awards

and nominations

Malaysia Video Awards for Best Director (1999) - Forgiving Petronas commercial
[13]

Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia's Golden Kancil Award for Best Advertising Agency (1999/2000)
[14][15]

Malaysia Video Awards silver award for Best Scriptwriting (2000)Yuzy Petronas Road Safety Campaign

Malaysia Video Awards bronze award for Best Scriptwriting (2000)Vas Dentures Celcom

Malaysian Film Festival awards for Most Original Story and Best Film (2005) Sepet
[16]

18th Tokyo International Film Festival Best Asian Film Award (2005) Sepet
[17]

Malaysia Film Festival awards for Best Screenplay and Best Film (2006) Gubra
[18]

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2008 Gold Winner for Petronas advertisement Tan Hong Ming In Love
[19][20] [21]

Malaysia Film Festival awards for Best Director (2009)Talentime

Berlin International Film Festival International Jury of Generation Kplus - Grand Prix of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk for Best Feature Film and Generation Kplus Children's Jury Awards - Special Mention (2007) Mukhsin
[22]

54th Asia Pacific Film Festival Best Director (2010) Muallaf (The Convert)
[23]

[edit]References

1. 2.

^ "Mukshin". The Berlinale. 2006. Retrieved 24 July 2009. ^ Malaysian filmmaker struggles with hardline Islam.

3.

^ Harben, Ayesha (April 25, 1993). "New apples in the Burnett barrel". New Straits Times. Retrieved 2009-07-23.

4. 5.

^ "Yasmin Ahmad". AdAsia. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2009. ^ Ahmad, Yasmin (2008-11-09). "the storyteller: Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing - then a work of art may happen."". Retrieved 2009-07-28.

6. 7.

^ http://www.altfg.com/blog/film-festivals/berlin-film-festival-awards-2007/ ^ "Going To Tokyo: Interview With MUKHSIN Director Yasmin Ahmad". Tokyo International Film Festival. October 24, 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2009.[dead link]

8.

^ Gillespie, Patricia (13-Mar-2009). "Interview with Malaysian Filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad". University of Hawaii at Manoa. Retrieved 2009-07-23.

9.

^ a b "Yasmin Ahmad dies". The Star/Asia News Network. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.. July 26, 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009.

10. ^ a b "Filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad critical but stable after surgery". The Malaysian Insider. July 23, 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009. 11. ^ a b Rizal Johan (July 24, 2009). "Director Yasmin suffers a stroke, stable after brain surgery". Star Publications (M) Bhd. Retrieved 26 July 2009. 12. ^ 15Malaysia|Short Film|Yasmin Ahmad|Chocolate 13. ^ "All Our Lives wins gold award". New Straits Times. May 29, 1999. Retrieved 2009-07-23. 14. ^ Sumitha Martin (2000-10-22). "Leo Burnett bags top ad award". New Straits Times. 15. ^ Sam Cheong (October 23, 2000). "Leo Burnett bags golden award". The Malay Mail. 16. ^ Mumtaj Begum (July 19, 2005). "Sepet scores big at Malaysian Film Festival". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 2009-07-23. 17. ^ 18th Tokyo International Film Festival Best Asian Film Award (2005) Sepet 18. ^ Mumtaj Begum (August 14, 2006). "Yasmin makes it two in a row". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 2009-07-23. 19. ^ "Petronas - Tan Hong Ming (Cannes Lions 2008) Gold Winner". Skyexits blogspot profile. Retrieved 2009-07-29. 20. ^ Harmandar Singh (June 22, 2008). "A toast to world-class work". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 2009-07-29. 21. ^ "Yasmin named best director for Talentime". The Star (Malaysia). August 9, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-11.

22. ^ Berlin International Film Festival 2007 23. ^ [1]

[edit]External

links

Yasmin Ahmad at the Internet Movie Database The Storyteller and The Film Maker, her blogs. Tributes for Yasmin Ahmad by the Star newspaper http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=36262 Yasmins immortal words by The Sun (Malaysia)

Yasmin Ahmad's Films, the book

[show]v d eFilms directed by Yasmin Ahmad [show]v d eCinema of Malaysia

Categories: 1958 births | 2009 deaths | Deaths from stroke | Malaysian film directors | Malaysian Malay people | Malaysian screenwriters | People from Muar | Women screenwriters

Log in / create account

Article Discussion Read Edit View history

Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Donate to Wikipedia Interaction

Help About Wikipedia Community portal Recent changes Contact Wikipedia

Toolbox Print/export Languages

Deutsch Franais Bahasa Melayu Nederlands

This page was last modified on 5 December 2010 at 17:37.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Contact us Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers