Between May 15 to June 1st we travelled to Kelantan to document traditional East Coast ritual arts. A full complement of crew came with us.
The production of the documentary was for Pusaka and Radikal films. Pusaka is an NGO committed to the preservation of the ancient ritual arts and performances of the East Coast states, particularly those of Kelantan.

These ritual performances predate the arrival of Islam into the peninsular and contain animist, Buddhist and Hindu influences which are anathema to Muslim Malays.

There exists a fatwa, or religious edict banning these performances. For many years, practitioners and performers have had to commit to their art, underground.

Together with the group were students of performing arts who were interning with Pusaka.

We were interested in their impressions of what they witnessed and experience of the two weeks and how they've been affected, if at all.