Yasmin Ahmad

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)
Damansara Specialist Hospital, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Occupation Film director, film writer, scriptwriter
Spouse(s) Tan Yew Leong (2003–2009, her death)
Parent(s) Ahmad Hashim (father)
Inom Yon (mother)

Yasmin Ahmad (7 January 1958 – 25 July 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.[2]

Early life and career

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

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. An April 2007 retrospective[8] 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.[9] Yasmin was inducted into the Malaysian Advertising Hall of Fame by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia in November 2008.[10]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.

Death

On Thursday, 23 July 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 Yasmin had suffered a stroke and haemorrhaging in the brain.[10]

On Saturday, 25 July 2009, more than 48 hours after the surgery, Yasmin Ahmad succumbed to her injury and was pronounced dead at 11.25 pm.[9] On Sunday, 26 July 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.

Tribute

In 2010, a year after her death, visual artist Kevin Bathman remembers the life and legacy of Yasmin Ahmad with a new digital art exhibition and film screening called 'In Her Own Words: A Celebration of Humanity and Universal Love'. Using Yasmin’s own blog as inspiration, Kevin had blended her own words with striking visual images to create an art series as progressive as Yasmin’s own thoughts.

Kevin Bathman, a Malaysian citizen who resides in Sydney, was so inspired with Yasmin’s outlook on life and her inspirational body of work, that he devoted his expertise to paying tribute to one of Malaysia’s visionary figures.

Being a big fan of her work and a keen follower of her blog, Kevin felt there were ‘gems’ that he wanted to share with others. The exhibition is an interpretation and a celebration of her words – words which serve as a reminder to us to continually strive to celebrate humanity and universal love.

It was launched in Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (5–18 July 2010), The Arts House, Singapore (27–31 August 2010) dan Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Melbourne (2–6 October 2010).

CausewayEXchange has worked closely with Orked Ahmad (Yasmin’s Sister) in our past installations of CEX in Singapore. In 2010 CEX showcased a Poster Exhibition entitled “in Her Words” by Kevin Bathman as well as a 120 minute screening of a compilation of all advertisements produced by Yasmin Ahmad. This was followed by a talk by Orked Ahmad.

Again In 2012 CausewayEXchange showcased Yasmin’s movie Rabun, Yasmin’s first telemovie. In conjunction, CEX and Orked Ahmad launched a book entitled “Yasmin, How you know?” in Singapore. Both the movie screening and the books were sold out.

On 7 January 2014, Google remembers Yasmin Ahmad by publishing a doodle with her image. This is the first time a Malaysian figure is honoured on its search engine www.google.com [12]

In October 2014, a commemorative museum, Yasmin at Kong Heng space, opened in Ipoh, Malaysia. It features Yasmin's photography, filmography, as well as creations devoted to her by other artists. There are plans to create an augmented reality series for the museum, using the city’s landmarks where Yasmin shot her films.[13]

Filmography

Telemovie

Films

Commercials and Short Films

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ "Mukshin" (PDF). The Berlinale. 2006. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  2. ↑ Malaysian filmmaker struggles with hardline Islam.
  3. ↑ Harben, Ayesha (25 April 1993). "New apples in the Burnett barrel". New Straits Times. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  4. ↑ "Yasmin Ahmad". AdAsia. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  5. ↑ Ahmad, Yasmin (9 November 2008). "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 28 July 2009.
  6. ↑ http://www.altfg.com/blog/film-festivals/berlin-film-festival-awards-2007/
  7. ↑ "Going To Tokyo: Interview With MUKHSIN Director Yasmin Ahmad". Tokyo International Film Festival. 24 October 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  8. ↑ Gillespie, Patricia (13 March 2009). "Interview with Malaysian Filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad". University of Hawaii at Manoa. hdl:10125/7236.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Yasmin Ahmad dies". The Star/Asia News Network. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. 26 July 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad critical but stable after surgery". The Malaysian Insider. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Rizal Johan (24 July 2009). "Director Yasmin suffers a stroke, stable after brain surgery". Star Publications (M) Bhd. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  12. ↑ http://www.nst.com.my/latest/google-s-doodle-remembers-yasmin-ahmad-1.456874
  13. ↑ Kumaran, Loghun (18 October 2014). "Yasmin Ahmad’s legacy celebrated in eponymous Ipoh museum". The Malay Mail Online. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  14. ↑ 15Malaysia|Short Film|Yasmin Ahmad|Chocolate
  15. ↑ "All Our Lives wins gold award". New Straits Times. 29 May 1999. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  16. ↑ Sumitha Martin (22 October 2000). "Leo Burnett bags top ad award". New Straits Times.
  17. ↑ Sam Cheong (23 October 2000). "Leo Burnett bags golden award". The Malay Mail.
  18. ↑ Mumtaj Begum (19 July 2005). "Sepet scores big at Malaysian Film Festival". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  19. ↑ 18th Tokyo International Film Festival Best Asian Film Award (2005) Sepet
  20. ↑ Mumtaj Begum (14 August 2006). "Yasmin makes it two in a row". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  21. ↑ "Petronas – Tan Hong Ming (Cannes Lions 2008) Gold Winner". Skyexits blogspot profile. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  22. ↑ Harmandar Singh (22 June 2008). "A toast to world-class work". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  23. ↑ "Yasmin named best director for Talentime". The Star (Malaysia). 9 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  24. ↑ Berlin International Film Festival 2007
  25. ↑

External links