Transnational cultures of Malaysian, Indonesian, Singaporean, and Philippine national cinema

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article proposes a transnational structure for the examination of films from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines based on the concept of Nusantara as a region characterised by a shared worldview, values, and principles. Particular attention is paid to how films from these countries can be studied based on representation through the use of regional themes and cultural codes. Additionally, this article also examines ‘cultural identity’ from shared history and ancestry, something which the cinemas of the four nations and the surrounding populations have in common. And, rather than just seeing films through the national lens it suggests that ‘critical transnationalism’ justifies looking at how the people of these countries view themselves through film representations and determines how to connect them. There are three themes that may provide an answer to the question of shared cultural identities in films of these countries, first, the concept of ‘tanahair’ which in Malay means ‘homeland’, second, the distinctive regional form of mobility called ‘merantau’ (to go on a journey, to wander) and, third, the degree of ambiguity and perplexity among the inhabitants of borderlands in films. This research found that ‘critical transnationalism’ is a reliable way to avoid the constraint of state-centrism in the discussion of films from these Southeast Asian countries.