'You've come a long way, baby': Erma Fatima, film and politics

In the late 1990s, only two women filmmakers made a mark in the Malay film industry - Shuhaimi Baba and Erma Fatima. Their films capture the attitude, spirit and vision of Mahathirism with regard to gender, sexuality, race relations and Malay(sian) identity. They show women who are comfortable with modernity and urban living, yet who have not lost touch with their adat (customary) roots, family values and community spirit. These cinematic positions metaphorically reflect the ideology of UMNO's 'moderate' stance on women and modernity as compared with the position of PAS and other religious 'fundamentalist' groups. This paper focuses on Erma Fatima and her career and films.