Sponsored by: Brian Ortelere & Gretchen Santamour
Winner: Critics Week Grand Prize, Cannes Film Festival
Precocious and quick-witted, 12-year-old Zaffan spends her days rebelling against her strict Islamic religious school and swimming in the lake with her best friends. It’s all pretty idyllic – until she gets her first period before anyone else in her class. Soon, other parts of her body begin to transform in terrifyingly grotesque ways. Ostracized by her peers – and what’s with that creature lurking around in the forest? – Zaffan (vibrantly embodied by newcomer Zafreen Zairizal) must choose between conformity and individuality. A Malaysian, female take on the body-horror genre, this dazzling debut by Amanda Nell Eu takes other cues from 1950s Southeast Asian monster cinema and Gen-Z internet culture.