U-Wei Haji Saari

Biography

Zuhir bin Hj Saari or also known as U-Wei Haji Saari is a Malaysian film director. He first gained the international attention with his film The Arsonist (more known by its Malay name Kaki Bakar), the first Malaysian film to enter the Cannes Film Festival in 1995. He began his career as a director for television dramas until 1996, when he made his film debut with the highly controversial Perempuan, Isteri dan..., which won him the Best Director award at the 11th Malaysia Film Festival. U-Wei produced a period film titled Hanyut(2014), as a co-production between countries Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia. The film is based on Joseph Conrad's novel titled Almayer's Folly, which tells about Almayer, a Dutch trader struggling to survive in Malaya with a Malay community at the turn of 19th century. In2022, he was elected to be the chief jury for the Moscow International Film Festival for the documenatry film category.