Apprentice
Photo-credit: IMDB
APPRENTICE stars impressive newcomer Fir Rhaman in his first feature film. He plays Aiman, a 28-year-old Malay correctional officer who is recently transferred to the territory's top prison. At his new workplace, Aiman begins to take an interest in a 65-year-old sergeant named Rahim (veteran actor Wan Hanafi Su). Soon, it is revealed that the charismatic Rahim is actually the long-serving chief executioner of the prison. Rahim also takes notice of the principled and diligent Aiman, and when Rahim's assistant suddenly quits, he asks Aiman to become his apprentice. When Aiman, who lives with his older sister Suhaila, tells her about his new position, she becomes distraught, as their father was actually executed by Rahim. Can Aiman overcome his conscience and a haunted past to possibly take over as the next chief executioner?
APPRENTICE boasts the same cinematographer, Benoit Soler, as ILO ILO (winner of the Camera d'Or in Cannes and released by Film Movement in 2014) and is executive produced by filmmaker Eric Khoo. Junfeng Boo's second feature film premiered at Un Certain Regard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.