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Malaysia has scored a historic first at the Cannes Film Festival with Ananth Subramaniam’s “Bleat!” selected to compete at the Critics’ Week, marking the first time a Malaysian short has been invited to the festival.
“Bleat!,” a co-production between Malaysia, the Philippines and France, tells the story of an elderly Malaysian-Tamil couple who discover their male goat, destined for ceremonial slaughter, is pregnant. The couple faces a spiritual and cultural dilemma: proceed with the ritual or risk divine consequences.
Set within Malaysia’s Tamil minority community, the 15-minute comedy-drama-fantastic hybrid features Tharmasegaran Maniam, Pannerselvam Evarani, and Dhanesh Alagarsu, with “Big Boy” playing the goat at the center of the moral quandary.
The selection represents a milestone for Malaysian cinema, which has seen four features premiere at Cannes previously: “Tiger Stripes” (2023), “The Tiger Factory” (2010), “Karaoke” (2009) and “Kaki Bakar” (The Arsonist) (1995).
“I’ve always had an inescapable feeling about my Malaysian-Tamil culture,” said writer-director Subramaniam. “Growing up, especially during those awkward puberty years, I wrestled with questions about who I was and where I fit in… So, I turned myself into a goat and threw myself into the middle of all that inevitability – and somehow, that became a film about what makes being Malaysian-Tamil so special.”
The production is a multinational effort produced by Choo Mun Bel (Malaysia’s Sixtymac Pictures), Bradley Liew (Philippines’ Epicmedia Productions) and Dominique Welinski (France’s DW). Belgian sales agent Hors du Bocal is handling international rights.
For Liew, who was born in Malaysia but now produces in the Philippines, the film represents a homecoming of sorts. “This is one of my proudest moments as a Malaysian with having our country’s first ever short film in Cannes,” he said.
The film comes with strong festival pedigree, having received the SGIFF Short Film Fund and the Singapore Momo Distribution Grant. Post-production spanned three countries, with work completed in Malaysia by Om Shakthi Films and Tentoseven, grading in Thailand at White Light Post Bangkok, and sound post-production in Lebanon with dbStudios.
For Sixtymac Pictures, “Bleat!” continues a growing portfolio of acclaimed shorts, including “Liar Land” (Locarno Open Doors – special mention). Subramaniam is currently developing his debut feature, “The Passport,” which has already gained attention at multiple development labs including Talents Tokyo and Locarno Open Doors.
Zahra Benasri of Hors du Bocal describes the film as “generous, funny, and bursting with raw cinematic energy,” adding that the sales company is “truly honored to stand beside this powerful and unapologetically free Malaysian-Tamil film.”
