NOV 26 — With the money I made from that sale, I decided to make another feature-length documentary. This time, I decided to go a bit further. I titled the film “I’m Muslim Too!” and went to four countries in the Middle East (Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan) to see how young people lived their lives in their respective countries. The film was also shot solo-journalism style.
I went to Iran and interviewed a heavy metal band called Arsames. Then I headed to Syria to search for the Hezbollah video game Special Force, and to Jordan to visit the annual Jerash Arts Festival. I also went to Beirut in Lebanon to experience a little bit of war and to see how Palestinian refugee kids spend their days.
Being from Malaysia, I had never experienced war and in my mind, I might have romanticised it a bit. When I got in to Lebanon, there were military checkpoints lining every street. Tanks and soldiers were everywhere. Turn on the television and you would see “live” coverage of bombings, shootings and fighting just 20 kilometres from the city. It was terrible and it scared me.
“Hey! Answer my question! Who are you!”
And I was jolted back to reality…
The large and rotund soldier’s shout startled me. I was still trembling and could barely speak.
“I’m a teacher from Malaysia,” I squeaked, trying to sound as harmless and non-threatening as I could (usually when people ask me what I do, I would proudly and boastingly say that I’m a journalist and documentary film-maker and neglect mentioning that I also am a lecturer!).
“Delete this picture!” he ordered as he threw my digital camera into my lap.
You see, I had rented a car and driver to get me out of Lebanon. We had stopped at a coffeeshop just before the border to have breakfast. Across the road was a military checkpoint. During times of war, you are not supposed to take footage or pictures of checkpoints and army bases because of security reasons. I wanted a picture as a souvenir.
Since I was in the coffeeshop, I thought I could sneak a snap through the curtains. I put down my glass of orange juice and headed to the window, took out my compact digital camera and snapped away. Then I sat down and continued drinking. After a few minutes, the soldiers stormed in. In my hastiness, I had forgotten to turn off the flash function on my camera. And you know the rest of the story.
To cut a long story short, I deleted the pictures and told the soldier that I’m actually just a tourist travelling in the region. It was a good thing he believed me and he let me go. I safely crossed the border and took a flight back to Malaysia.
When I got back, I contacted the television station again and told them I had another documentary to show them. We had a meeting, they viewed it and I got another contract. “I’m Muslim Too!” was broadcast nationally in 2008 and received lots of positive reviews and feedback. I was extremely happy!
I’ve made a total of four feature-length documentary films so far. “The Life & Times of an Islamic Insurgency” was banned from broadcast in Malaysia but was screened in the US. I have recently finished a book version of it and if all goes well, it should be out in a couple of months.
My latest film entitled “Kampung Baru Alaf Baru” was shown on local television. It explored the lives of Malays living in the last Malay reserve village right in the heart of the Kuala Lumpur.
Aside from making my documentary films, I’m also a freelance videojournalist for several international news organisations and I provide consultancy and conduct documentary workshops. I’m now getting jobs and projects that I want to do and have the liberty of declining those that I don’t want to do. It took some time, and I’m not exactly 100 per cent there yet, but I’m extremely happy!
* You can follow Zan’s exploits in making documentary films and producing news videos at his website/blog (http:www.fatbidin.com).
* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
