Gubra & The 3rd Generation, A Strong Looking Pair of Malaysian Family Dramas

I signed up on a Malaysian film mailing list a while back and while a good bit of the traffic is made up of squabbling between film makers there do crop up some very interesting leads from time to time and I came across a couple there today.

First is Gubra, a film from the makers of Sepet - an award winning indie about a cross-ethnic romance that I've been meaning to pick up on DVD - and if the trailer is any indicator this one has taken a slightly darker road. From the death of a family patriarch we move on to domestic violence, prostitution and hand tools held menacingly close to eyes. This definitely looks to be one to watch for.

Based on a Chinese proverb that you can't carry your wealth beyond the third generation, The 3rd Generation is a film following a family of third generation ethnic Chinese in Malaysia and the cultural tensions pulling them in different directions. The trailers give away very little in terms of plot - the website is far more descriptive - but they are absolutely gorgeous, just really beautifully shot - even in grotty Windows Media format. Nice.

Gubra Trailer (downloadable Quicktime)
The 3rd Generation Website
The Third Generation Trailer #1 (downloadable Windows Media)
The Third Generation Trailer #2 (downloadable Windows Media)
The Third Generation Trailer #3 (downloadable Windows Media)