DOCUMENTARY ON ROAD TO NATIONHOOD
It chronicles struggles of leaders between 1957 and 1965
AFILMMAKER has reenacted the struggles of Malaysia’s founding fathers in a documentary, aiming to inspire a new generation to maintain national unity.
Filmmaker Ahmad Yazid Ahmad Fuad said he hoped the documentary, entitled Road to Nationhood: Formation of Malaysia, would strengthen unity.
He said the documentary traced the yet-untold stories of the country’s leaders’ political and economic struggles between 1957 and 1965.
His team of five people took about three years to research, conduct interviews, and gather information and material for the documentary.
He said they also searched for materials from the New Straits
Times Press Bhd’s (NSTP) news and image archive.
He said the documentary was inspired by the rich narratives of NSTP’s book of the same title, Road to Nationhood.
“My team and I are excited to share this with other Malaysians,” he said at the documentary’s premiere here yesterday.
Produced by Rack Focus Films Sdn Bhd, the documentary, which runs for nearly two hours, is a sequel to Road to Nationhood: Journey to Independence.
The leaders highlighted in the documentary include the country’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, his successor, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, then-Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and Tun Tan Siew Sin, the only son of MCA founder Tun Tan Cheng Lock.
The documentary features the voices of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam and other political personalities such as Tengku
Razaleigh Hamzah, Tan Sri Leo Moggie and Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.
NSTP special projects executive editor Azizi Othman said the company hoped to contribute to the nation in the spirit of Malaysia’s 60th National Day by retelling the true story and struggles of the country’s formation.
The documentary is slated to air on the History HD channel on Sept 16 at 3.10pm and 10.40pm and on Astro Awani, Astro Prima and Astro Maya HD on Sept 17.