FreedomFilmFest2020 Film Grant Winner – Premiere
In a country where possession of cannabis is punishable with death, Siti finds herself pulled into the unfamiliar world of lengthy legal proceedings and prison visits when her 60 year old father is arrested for using medical cannabis to treat his chronic illnesses. In her journey to save her father from the death penalty, Siti finds herself succumbing to fear and anxiety as she navigates through her own personal challenges – all the while fearing that she might never see her father again. All in all, ‘Ayahku, Dr. G’ is a story about a daughter’s quest for her father’s justice from a law that puts punishment before public health.
Dalam negara di mana pemilikan ganja boleh disabitkan dengan hukuman mati, Siti dibelenggu dengan proses perbicaraan mahkamah yang tiada penghujung serta kerap melawat ayahnya di penjara. Ayahnya yang berusia 60 tahun ditahan kerana mengambil ganja sebagai ubat untuk merawat penyakit kronik yang dihidapinya. Setiap cabaran yang dihadapi Siti untuk menyelamatkan ayahnya dari tali gantung menambahkan lagi perasaan takut dan resah dalam dirinya. Persoalan yang sering terngiang di kepala hanyalah satu – Adakah dia bakal kehilangan ayahnya?. ‘Ayahku, Dr. G’ menceritakan tentang kisah seorang anak yang bertungkus-lumus mencari keadilan buat ayahnya, mangsa undang-undang yang memandang enteng terhadap kebajikan awam dan menjurus kepada hukuman.
“It’s a personal recount of survival when the odds are against you in every way, but his persistence is admirable – you can’t help but root for him despite his optimism against the set reality of Malaysia’s laws”.
– Hidayah Hisham, filmmaker
A Freedom FilmFest2020 Film Grant Winner
Tackling the Controversy Behind Medicinal Cannabis Young Malaysian filmmakers Loh Jo Yee, Hidayah Hisham and Dominque Teoh, are the other winners of this year’s FreedomFilmFest2020 film grant with their film, Ayahku, Dr G | My Father, Dr G. The three were intrigued by the backstory of the terminally ill 58 year old Amiruddin Abdullah, a former army captain know as Dr G, who was arrested and charged with 36 counts of drug-related offences for treating terminally ill or mental health patients who went to him for CBD-infused confectionaries to treat their illnesses. The three filmmakers hope their film allows viewers to see the multifaceted aspects of drug use and understand it from a widened and more nuanced perspectives encompassing legal, medical and even socially realities. Filming for Ayahku, Dr G began in July 2020 and it is set to premiere in FreedomFilmFest2020.
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