Lee is hoping his psychological thriller Two Sisters, the first film released by new horror film production house Kuman Pictures, will appeal to modern audiences. — Sunpix by Asyraf Rasid

TWO SISTERS (2019) Director James Lee in The Sun Daily →

April 4, 2019

Author: Bissme

FILM director James Lee explores the relationship between two estranged siblings in his latest horror film, Two Sisters, opening in cinemas on April 18.

He explains that Two Sisters is a psychological horror film that is plot- and character-driven.

“Sometimes you need a heavy marketing strategy just to remind the audience that a particular film exists in the cinema,” he says.

Made with budget of RM300,000, the film centres around Mei Yue (played by Lim Mei Fen) who spent some years in a psychiatric hospital, but was released into the care of her older sister Mei Xi (Emily Lim Pey Chi).

The two sisters decide to move back into their family house, which was abandoned years ago. When Mei Yue starts seeing unexplained eerie apparitions, she begins to question if she is losing her mind again. Or can it be that their family house is actually haunted?

Two Sisters is the first film to be released under the banner of Kuman Pictures, a film production house dedicated to low-budget thriller and horror projects, founded by filmmaker Amir Muhammad last year.

Interestingly, despite having yet to be released in cinemas, Two Sisters is already an award-winning movie. The film snagged the award for best musical score, written by Nick Davis, at the 30th Malaysian Film Festival Awards last Saturday.

TWO SISTERS (2019) Made Strides At The 30th Festival Filem Malaysia

April 3, 2019

Putrajaya, 30 Mac 2019-While the Minister of Communication and Multimedia YB Tuan Gobind Singh Deo announced One Two Jaga (directed by Nam Ron) as Best Film at the 30th Festival Filem Malaysia, Two Sisters also received significant recognitions at the festival for being nominated for three sections and winning one.

Nick Davis, the music composer of Two Sisters, won Best Original Score at the festival, having attended the festival for the first time and also being nominated for the first time. This is his first time composing music for feature-length film.

The main actress Emily Lim Pey Chi was nominated for Best Actress alongside Maya Karin (Munafik 2), Datin Seri Umie Aida (Dukun), Datin Diana Danielle (Gol & Gincu 2), and Sangeeta Krishnasan (Rise Ini Kalilah). The award went to the long-awaited Datin Seri Umie Aida for her outstanding achievement and performance in Dukun.

Designed by Foong Teck Hee, Two Sisters’ poster was also competing in Best Poster category at the festival. The award went to Jazzy Pictures (One Two Jaga). Two Sisters will be released in nationwide cinemas on 18 April 2019.

Official list of FFM30 winners: https://www.finas.gov.my/en/industry-information/ffm30/

SCREENWRITING COMPETITION FOR LOW-BUDGET MALAYSIAN HORROR/THRILLER MOVIE

February 28, 2019

Run by Kuman Pictures & Feisk Productions

1. We seek an original screenplay set in Malaysia for a small-scale horror or thriller feature movie.
2. The writer may be of any age, nationality or level of experience.
3. The screenplay can be written in either English or Malay. The dialogue of the eventual film can be whatever is apt for the characters (eg Malay, Chinese, Tamil, Iban, Kadazan, English, etc).
4. Suggested length: 60-90 pages. In proper screenwriting format such as FinalDraft.
5. The story must be in the horror or thriller genre. Not all horror movies need ghosts and not all thrillers need killings.
6. There should ideally be no more than 10 speaking parts and 3 major locations. Refer to small-scale horror/thriller movies such as SINISTER, SHALLOW GRAVE, REC, GONJIAM HAUNTED ASYLUM and TWO SISTERS (in Malaysian cinemas from 18 April 2019).
7. Only one screenplay will be chosen. The winner will get RM20,000 and 1% of the film’s income on all platforms.
8. The winner will be announced in October 2019. We pledge to shoot the winning screenplay in the first half of 2020.
9. Copyright of all submitted screenplays remain with the writer.
10. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Email your screenplay & 1-page synopsis to kumanpictures@gmail.com by 31 August 2019.

OUR YOUTHFUL PRODUCER IN THE SUN! →

February 19, 2019

Shot in 13 days, TWO SISTERS (2019) will make its way to Malaysian cinemas on 18 April. It tells a story of two sisters reunite after one of them is discharged from an asylum. Upon returning to their abandoned family home, a dark and tragic family s… — Shot in 13 days, TWO SISTERS (2019) will make its way to Malaysian cinemas on 18 April. It tells a story of two sisters reunite after one of them is discharged from an asylum. Upon returning to their abandoned family home, a dark and tragic family secret starts to unfold.
Main cast: Emily Lim, Lim Mei Fen
Director and Scriptwriter: James Lee
Executive Producer: Amir Muhammad
Producers: Elise Shick, Kenny Gan
Director of Photography: Tan Teck Zee
Music Composer: Nick Davis
Audio Post: Addaudio Ex
Assistant Director: TK Cheng
Art Directors: Fish Lim, Brandden Low (Owlsome Art)
Make up Artist: Kit Hew
Wardrobe Stylist: Joey Chua
Production Manager/Location Manager: Dinol Pak Mun Cheong
Editor: J. Ishmael
Colorist: Clara Yang

TWO SISTERS (2019) IN CINEMAS 18 APRIL 2019

February 19, 2019

TWO SISTERS (2019) Teaser

January 4, 2019

Introduction of Kuman Pictures' First Three Films

October 4, 2018

James Lee (TWO SISTERS), Emir Ezwan (ROH) & M.S. Prem Nath (IRUL - GHOST HOTEL) speak about their upcoming films.

Kuman Pictures' Manifesto

October 4, 2018

Amir Muhammad, the managing director of Kuman Pictures, delivers Kuman Pictures’ manifesto at the company’s launch.

Kuman Pictures Announced Its Launch in September 2018

September 21, 2018

Kuman Pictures Sdn Bhd is a new Malaysian film company that was launched to the media on 20 September 2018. It will focus on only low-budget (average about RM500,000) thriller and horror films for cinema release.

Founder

The founder of the company is Amir Muhammad who had previously directed several documentaries and co-directed a cinema feature SUSUK (2008). In the past decade he has been more active as a book publisher and is the managing director of Buku Fixi, which has published over 200 books in Malay and English.

Creative Vision

We want to work with strong, innovative directors and we give them creative freedom as long as they can work with the budget! We deliberately choose horror and thriller as we believe there are some interesting ways in which different types of stories can be told in these popular formats.

Royalties

Kuman Pictures is the only film company in Malaysia that will pay royalties to all the cast and crew on annual basis. The royalties will come from any income generated by the movie: in the cinema or other platforms later. This is the same royalty system for authors in the publishing company. We feel that whatever earnings we make should be shared by the people who made the movie possible.

First Three Films

The first three films under Kuman Pictures are:

TWO SISTERS (Mandarin) directed by James Lee

This is about the repercussions of a tragic family secret; who is the ghost in the red cheongsam who haunts the sisters?

James Lee is one of the most prolific Malaysian filmmakers. His previous works include HISTERIA, TOLONG! AWEK AKU PONTIANAK, PETALING STREET WARRIORS, CLAYPOT CURRY KILLERS for mainstream release and also many others like THE BEAUTIFUL WASHING MACHINE and CALL IF YOU NEED ME for arthouse release and international film festivals.

ROH (Malay) directed by Emir Ezwan

Set in the unspecified past during wartime, a family is spooked by the arrival of a mysterious and sinister young guest; who in the family will survive?

Emir Ezwan has directed numerous commercials and also done VFX for feature films. His short film RM10 (2016) won several awards internationally. ROH is his first feature.

IRUL - GHOST HOTEL (Tamil) directed by MS Prem Nath

To be shot mainly in Penang’s Crag Hotel, this is a found-footage film about the search for a missing person.

MS Prem Nath was previously in cinemas as one of the directors of RISE! INI KALILAH. His first two films before that were in the horror genre.

All three films are planned for 2019 cinema release.

Languages

Our first three films are in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. We are also open to other languages spoken in Malaysia, because we feel our main “language” is the genre (horror/thriller).

Future Plans

At the moment our priority is completing and releasing our first three films.

TWO SISTERS slated for early 2019 and the other two slated for second half of 2019.

We are also developing a few other projects but these are still in the script/ideation stages.

GALLERY

Contact details:

kumanpictures@gmail.com

Press Conference of Kuman Pictures's launch to be held on the 20th of September 2018

September 4, 2018

Kuman Pictures will organize a press conference to be held on the above-mentioned date to announce its official launch. All press and media are welcome to attend.
Kindly RSVP by emailing to elise.kumanpictures@gmail.com by the 10th of September 2018.

Date: 20th of September 2018
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Venue: Platinum Movie Suites, mmCineplexes
Level 2, eCurve, 2A, Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Agenda

10:30 a.m. Registration

11:00 a.m. Speech by Amir Muhammad the Managing Director of Kuman Pictures, followed by film directors James Lee, Prem Nath, and Emir Ezwan.

11:30 a.m. Q&A and photography session.

12:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. Closing of Press Conference

Hereby we extend our cordial wish to have your involvement in this Press Conference.

Contact details:

Amir Muhammad (Managing Director)
kumanpictures@gmail.com
+60112311584

Elise Shick (Producer)
elise.kumanpictures@gmail.com
+60177820933