Man on the Run (2023 film)

Last updated
Man on the Run
Man On The Run poster.jpg
Directed byCassius Michael Kim
Written byCassius Michael Kim
Produced by
  • Alyse Shorland
  • Rhana Natour
  • Fabian W. Joseph
CinematographyJoe Simon
Edited by
  • Jon Connor
  • Karl Dawson
Music by Jordan Asher Cruz
Production
companies
  • The Smoking Section
  • Evergreen Media
Distributed by Netflix
Release dates
  • September 8, 2023 (2023-09-08)(UK)
  • September 22, 2023 (2023-09-22)(U.S.)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Man on the Run is a 2023 documentary film directed, written and executively produced by Cassius Michael Kim. The film revolves on the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal and the involvement of former sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak and the fugitive businessman, Jho Low in a scandal that shook Malaysia. The film was released on 19 October 2023 in Malaysia. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Production

The film was directed by Cassius Michael Kim. According to Kim, he was impressed to directed Man On The Run after he followed the widespread coverage of the 1MDB scandal. [4] [5] The film follows the progression of the scandal from the establishment of 1MDB, Jho Low's alleged use of funds, the journalists and politicians who sought to investigate the scandal, the 2018 general election and Najib's subsequent arrest and trial.

Former sixth Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak was interviewed in the film. Aside from Najib, also interviewed are Clare Rewcastle Brown, Ho Kay Tat (CEO of The Edge) and Bradley Hope (author of Billion Dollar Whale ), Xavier Andre Justo (informant), Anwar Ibrahim (10th prime minister), Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muar Member of Parliament), Tony Pua (former Member of Parliament) and Tommy Thomas (former Attorney General of Malaysia). However, many Hollywood celebrities involved in the scandal, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Paris Hilton, and Kim Kardashian, denied an interview or to comment.

Release

In November 2023, Netflix acquired worldwide distribution rights to the documentary. [6]

Reception

The film received 15 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, for which 93% are positive, with an average score of 6.8 out of 10. [7]

Response by Najib

In January 2024, Najib threatened to take legal action against Thomas and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown for their roles in the documentary, as well as to remove the documentary from airing for its "sub judicial and contemptuous" content. [8] Fahmi Fadzil, the Communications Ministry of Malaysia has decided to let the court to decide whether to remove the documentary from the streaming platform. [9] Cassius told Malaysiakini that no one, including Najib, has ever complained about the documentary when it was screened in Malaysia. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Najib Razak</span> Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018

Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak is a Malaysian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018. In 2020, he was convicted of corruption in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, one of the largest money-laundering and embezzlement scandals in history. He is the son of former prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein. Najib Razak was the chairman of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition from April 2009 to May 2018 and the president of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) from November 2008 to May 2018, which had maintained control of Malaysia's government with a parliamentary majority for more than sixty years until the coalition's defeat in the 2018 general election.

1Malaysia was a political slogan coined by Malaysian former Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009, with the stated goal of promoting ethnic harmony, national unity, and efficient governance. However, it quickly became embroiled in controversy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clare Rewcastle Brown</span> British journalist

Clare Rewcastle Brown is a British environmental and anti-corruption journalist and activist who uncovered the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. Born in the former British Crown Colony of Sarawak, she is the founder and operator of the Sarawak Report blog and Radio Free Sarawak which have exposed corruption driving deforestation and human rights violations in that state along with failures in the global financial systems which facilitate kleptocracy. In 2015 she shifted her focus to the federal government of Malaysia and the country's prime minister, Najib Razak. Her blog Sarawak Report gained widespread recognition for its original and early exposure of the 1MDB scandal, which contributed to widespread disillusionment with Najib's Barisan Nasional government, culminating in its loss in the 2018 elections.

<i>Sarawak Report</i>

Sarawak Report is an investigative journalism website focused on environmental and corruption issues in Malaysia. It has been largely self-published and operated from London since 2010 by Clare Rewcastle Brown. The blog had originally focused on the welfare of the indigenous people in Sarawak but eventually published original exposés on corruption scandals in wider Malaysia. In 2017, it gained wide recognition for its original and early exposure of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, which had led the Najib Razak-led Malaysian government to block the website. The blog was openly critical of the Barisan Nasional-led state and federal governments of Sarawak and Malaysia, and supportive of the Pakatan Harapan opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riza Aziz</span> Malaysian film producer

Riza Shahriz bin Abdul Aziz, better known as Riza Aziz, is a Malaysian film producer and the co-founder of Red Granite Pictures, a Los Angeles–based film production company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in Malaysia</span>

According to a 2013 public survey in Malaysia by Transparency International, a majority of the surveyed households perceived Malaysian political parties to be highly corrupt. A quarter of the surveyed households consider the government's efforts in the fight against corruption to be ineffective. Corruption in Malaysia generally involves political connections still playing an important role in the outcome of public tenders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal</span> International corruption scandal that began in Malaysia

The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, often referred to as the 1MDB scandal or just 1MDB, is an ongoing corruption, bribery and money laundering conspiracy in which the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was systematically embezzled, with assets diverted globally by the perpetrators of the scheme. Although it began in 2009 in Malaysia, the scandal's global scope implicated institutions and individuals in politics, banking, and entertainment, and led to criminal investigations in a number of nations. The 1MDB scandal has been described as "one of the world's greatest financial scandals" and declared by the United States Department of Justice as the "largest kleptocracy case to date" in 2016.

Mohd Fahmi Reza bin Mohd Zarin is a Malaysian political graphic designer, street artist and documentary filmmaker. He is best known for depicting Malaysia's then Prime Minister, Najib Razak, as a clown. He is also known for portraying Malaysian politicians, whom most of them are accused to corruption charges in a satirical way and has seen been arrested multiple times since the clown portrayal of Najib.

2018 in Malaysia is Malaysia's 61st anniversary of its independence and 55th anniversary of Malaysia's formation.

Mohamed Apandi bin Ali is a Malaysian lawyer and politician who was the Attorney General of Malaysia from 2015 to 2018. Six months after assuming office, he cleared then prime minister Najib Razak of any wrongdoing in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and SRC International cases and marked the investigation for "no further action".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Penang state election</span> State election in Malaysia

The 13th Penang election was held on 5 May 2013. Polling took place in 40 constituencies throughout the State of Penang, with each electing a State Assemblyman to the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The election was conducted by the Malaysian Election Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jho Low</span> Malaysian fugitive businessman scammer

Low Taek Jho, often called Jho Low, is a Malaysian businessman and international fugitive, wanted by authorities in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. He has been named the mastermind of the massive fraud, which prosecutors allege was a scheme to siphon US$4.5 billion from 1MDB into Low's personal accounts. He is the beneficiary of numerous discretionary trust assets said by the US government to originate from payments out of the Malaysian 1MDB fund. Low has maintained his innocence and contends that Malaysian authorities are engaging in a campaign of harassment and political persecution due to his prior support of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose part in the 1MDB scandal had led to Najib being convicted on seven counts of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

Hasan bin Arifin is a Malaysian politician. He formerly served as Member of Parliament (MP) of Rompin for two terms. Hasan is a member of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a major component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

Abdul Hamid bin Bador is a Malaysian retired police officer who served as the 12th Inspector-General of Police (IGP) from May 2019 to May 2021. He was the Acting Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Malaysia (DIGP) and Director of the Special Branch (SB) of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM).

<i>The Kleptocrats</i> 2018 American documentary film

The Kleptocrats is a 2018 documentary film produced by Mike Lerner and directed by Sam Hobkinson and Havana Marking that investigates the theft of over $3 billion from Malaysian government fund 1MDB. The scandal implicated several public figures, such as the former prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, his stepson, Riza Aziz, and missing fugitive Jho Low.

Rizuan Abdul Hamid was a Malaysian politician. He was a two-term Senator for the upper house of 11th and 12th Malaysian Parliament. He was also the former Chairman of Halal Development Corporation (HDC).

Events in the year 2022 in Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal</span>

The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal is an ongoing political scandal in Malaysia, in which then-Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of channeling over RM 2.67 billion into his personal bank accounts from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a government-run strategic development company. 1MDB was overseen by Najib as head of its advisory board. Following repeated calls for resignation by the public, Najib lost power in the 2018 Malaysian general election, and is currently on trial along with several key figures involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Najib Razak controversies</span>

Najib Razak is the 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia, the son of former 2nd prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein. One of the most controversial leaders of the 21st century, his period of rule was marked by corruption, an extravagant lifestyle, and crackdown on free speech.

References

  1. Nurezzatul Aqmar Mustaza (6 October 2023). "Man On The Run dedah skandal 1MDB" (in Malay). Sinar Harian . Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  2. Fatin Nurain (9 October 2023). "Dokumentari 'Man On The Run' Dedah Kisah Skandal 1MDB, Bakal Ditayangkan 19 Oktober Ini!" (in Malay). XTRA. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  3. Dhesegaan Bala Krishnan (13 October 2023). "1MDB documentary film 'Man On The Run' to be released in Malaysia on October 19 (VIDEO)". The Malay Mail . Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  4. "'Man On The Run', dedah kisah sebenar skandal 1MDB" (in Malay). Berita RTM. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. Minda Ranggong (19 October 2023). "Dedah kisah pengkhianatan" (in Malay). Harian Metro . Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  6. Wiseman, Andreas (30 November 2023). "Netflix Picks Up Rights To True Crime Doc 'Man On The Run' About 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' Backer Jho Low Who Partied With The Stars Then Disappeared; Watch Trailer". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  7. "Man on the Run". Rotten Tomatoes. 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  8. "Former Malaysia PM Najib threatens court action over Netflix show Man On The Run". The Straits Times. 2024-01-09. ISSN   0585-3923 . Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  9. Mohd, Hariz (2024-01-24). "Fahmi: Let court decide on 'Man on the Run' Netflix removal". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  10. Bunyan, John (2024-01-25). "'Man on the Run' director says Najib's side didn't complain about Netflix documentary during its making". Malay Mail. Retrieved 2024-01-31.