However, for director Gavin Yap, it was not out of the question when he was growing up.
Gavin shares that when his family moved back to Malaysia after having lived overseas in the United Kingdom for an extended period, most of the homes he lived in were very close to cemeteries.
“I don’t know if it is coincidental or not, but when we were staying in Damansara Utama, my family home was near a cemetery. Then, after moving to Penang, our home there was also close to a cemetery.”
The ‘Dendam Pontianak’ director also shared, “Hanging out at cemeteries was literally one of the activities I used to do with my school friends.”
This sort of sparked the idea to make a movie about a bunch of characters who hang out at cemeteries. Gavin is credited as Director and ScriptWriter for ‘Geng Kubur.
The Story
Sharing more about the film, Gavin added that the story is about four best friends that took up hanging out in the cemetery as their main activity. But there’s more to the story of course. “Geng Kubur focuses on the life journey of each of the four friends. “Each character has their own backstories and baggage that haunt them.”
Geng Kubur features young talents such as Firdaus Sufiyan, Mia Sara Shauki, Lion Chong, and Sasidaran Subramaniam as the main actors. They play FIRHAN, MELATI, FANG LIANG and PREM respectively.
When asked about his hopes for the film, Gavin replied that he hopes his latest work here will be received well and be entertaining, “The main inspiration behind Geng Kubur is that I wanted to do a coming-of-age film so I can explore certain things that we go through when we were kids such as insecurities, our fears, our secrets and how they can haunt us.”
He is confident that everyone who watches the film will reminisce and be nostalgic about their school days.
“I hope that every viewer will be able to see ‘themselves’ in each of the characters.”
Production & Promotion
According to Gavin, the shooting was done in September 2022 at locations including Hulu Langat, Bandar Utama, and Kampung Baru.
Executive Producer Michael Chen remarked that he was drawn to produce ‘Geng Kubur’ because of its distinctive voice.
“Gavin clearly has something to say. Besides the horror elements, the unique part of this film also portrays universal themes of friendship, family, and self-acceptance.”
“Every character is flawed and imperfect. Just like real life. But unlike real life, where some of us could live out our whole lives without facing our personal ugly truths, our movie will progressively put our characters in a situation where they will be forced to face their deepest, darkest fears and insecurities. They must learn to overcome or face the consequences. Great message for all of us, young and old.”
Michael also shared that the production cost of ‘Geng Kubur’ is RM 1.2 million.
“Gavin and I have long been friends and have worked together on multiple projects since 2006. When he first shared this idea, I was confident that this would be a great story to be produced into a film.”
“Plus, I had a great production team support in my partners from Passion Pictures, who gave their all during the filming. I can’t wait for the film to finally be viewed by all Malaysians.”
Geng Kubur will be in theatres starting 25 April 2024.
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