We were not a film crew, we were friends with cameras. From inception to finished film took 2 years and financing was the main problem. The entire documentary was eventually funded by what we call our Guardian Angel Investor, Andrew Bird, who set up Verado Films in the UK, and then gave us complete editorial control over the documentary. It also took so long because we had to completely ditch our initial treatment when Mak Minah died two days before the filming of her main sequences and interview. We spent weeks combing through every minute of the rushes to find the film that eventually became Guardians of the Forest.
Censorship is by far the main problem.
Social documentaries are successful when there is conflict and tension to be resolved. There is certainly no shortage of Malaysian talent. Guardians of the Forest was beautifully shot by Ridzuan Hamdan and an all-Malaysian crew. An all-Malaysian team. But the people who pushed hardest to make an idea become a documentary were British.