SHORT film director Syalikh Nazrul has had a dream of becoming a filmmaker ever since he watched Jurassic Park as a child. Fascinated by the filmmaking process, Syalikh began to dabble with short films, in the later years.
Juggling his career in the corporate world, the up-and-coming film director had a unique approach to telling stories and bringing his vision to screen. Soon, his incredible talent and skills got noticed.
Syalikh, 33, won his first major award, Best Short Film in DFKL in 2017, one of his short films was selected in the Top 5 Short Films in Vision Petron the same year, and another short film reached the Top 13 for Best Screenplay at the 2018 Kolumpu Film Festival.
Just last year, Syalikh bagged yet another award. His short film, titled Red Is The Colour That I Don’t Want To See, won the People’s Choice Awards at the prestigious BMW Shorties 2022 in December.
Syalikh created the story and wrote the screenplay, which has suspense and a sense of tension, and terrifying at times. He also directed the film, which is available on YouTube.
Starring Yuyun Hikmah and Ad Wafri Shah, the short film centres around a young couple trying to deliver a baby at a cheap hotel. The film was shot in just two days, and left a lasting impact in the minds of viewers.
The short film has a good message. A bad decision by the young couple landed them in a terrible situation, but it makes us sit up and think about the youth’s lack of knowledge.
It was a courageous move by Syalikh not to be afraid to try to explore such a topic, especially focusing on young pregnant (Muslim) women.
Though, most people find it difficult to watch the ‘bloody’ scenes – Syalikh himself admits that he gets dizzy when he sees blood – it didn’t stop him from filming them.
As we know, short films are a good platform before starting the journey into movie making, and as such, his great potential and creative mind puts him on the right track to becoming a celebrated filmmaker in the future.
Here, we spoke to Syalikh to learn more about his inspiration, journey, and future projects.
