The first time I ever met Eu, I knew she would be a filmmaker to watch. This latest award just reinforces her power.
Last year, in 2023, I was assigned a few projects to mentor in press etiquette at Qumra — the annual industry incubator organized by the Doha Film Institute in Qatar. One of the projects was a Malaysian film titled Tiger Stripes, about the upheaval that puberty causes in a young woman. This was no ordinary story, though, and these were not ordinary filmmakers. Along with her producer Fei Ling Foo, Amanda Nell Eu proved a force to be reckoned with.
When people say that about a woman, or in this case two women in the film industry, it’s usually meant as a put down, or an indication that they are difficult to work with and opinionated. In the case of Fei Ling and Amanda, they were the kindest and most unassuming pair I’d met in this business. When I suggested a little trick for meeting the media, something that I disclose during my mentorship as a kind of power tool to keep the filmmakers in control of the media’s (oftentimes) difficult questions, they adopted it immediately and met the trades reps the following day using that trick. Needless to say, it worked all the way and the film was not only selected for Critics’ Week in Cannes — the best place for it to world premiere — it also won their Grand Prize and was selected as the Malaysian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.
The stuff cinematic dreams are made of, in fact.
Fast forward a bit, following the film’s home country release, and while it did become the center of some controversy when the Malaysian authorities censored key scenes and Eu responded by releasing a statement basically “disowning” the film, Tiger Stripes and its visionary filmmaker continued to impress.
Now, on May 19th, during the Festival de Cannes and on the occasion of the annual Kering Women in Motion official dinner to be held on Sunday, May 19, 2024, Eu will be awarded their 2024 Emerging Talent Award, alongside renowned Studio Chief and trailblazer Dame Donna Langley, who will receive the 2024 Women In Motion Award. As is the tradition for this award, Eu’s name was chosen by last year’s winner, Swiss helmer Carmen Jaquier who is pictured on this year’s poster.
The Kering 2024 Women In Motion Emerging Talent Award has been handed out since 2019, and includes a grant of €50,000 to support the creation of her next film project.
The awards to both Eu and Dame Langley will be handed out by François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes.
Eu declared: “I am incredibly honored to receive this award, and I want to give an extra thank you to the super bold director Carmen Jaquier. Thank you also to Women In Motion; I am already so grateful that I get to have my voice and use it and express it in a way that is free to me, so to receive this recognition is really special. Thank you to the big Tiger family – everyone involved in putting together Tiger Stripes – I think this film is a representation of the freedom that I am talking about and our potential to be beautiful bad-ass creatures in this world, if we can love, accept and listen to each other more.”
Gender equality is at the heart of Kering's commitments, and the ambition of Women In Motion is to highlight women’s contribution to the film industry, both in front of and behind the camera – and, more broadly, their contribution to culture and the arts. Started with filmmakers in mind, the program has since expanded in a major way to photography, but also to art, design, choreography, and music. Through its Awards, the program recognizes inspirational figures and emerging female talent, while its Talks and Podcasts provide an opportunity for leading personalities to share their views on the representation of women in their profession.
Launched in May 2015 by fashion and lifestyle conglomerate Kering as part of its partnership with the Festival de Cannes, Women In Motion has since become an integral part of its official program and has extended its reach around the world through a series of events. Every year in Cannes, the initiative recognizes inspiring figures and talented emerging female talent with its awards. The Emerging Talent Award, which comes with €50,000 to support the work of emerging female directors in the film industry, has already highlighted and supported the work of ten promising women: Leyla Bouzid (Tunisia), Gaya Jiji (Syria), Ida Panahandeh (Iran), Maysaloun Hamoud (Palestine), Carla Simón (Spain), Eva Trobisch (Germany), Maura Delpero (Italy), Shannon Murphy (Australia), Ninja Thyberg (Sweden) and Carmen Jaquier (Switzerland).
In parallel, the Women In Motion Award recognizes the careers and commitments of emblematic figures from the film world: Jane Fonda (2015), Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis (2016), Isabelle Huppert (2017), Patty Jenkins (2018), Gong Li (2019), Salma Hayek Pinault (2021), Viola Davis (2022), Michelle Yeoh (2023), and this year, Dame Langley.
Images courtesy of Kering, used with permission.