19 Aug – Even though the silat-themed "Geran" failed to achieve a big box office collection in its home country, the Layar Pictures and Tree of Hopes Productions film managed to make Malaysians proud when it nabbed an award at the 19th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF). "Geran" received the Daniel A. Craft Award for its excellence in action, placing its director Areel Abu Bakar on the same level as other renowned directors such as Dante Lam ("Operation Red Sea"), Yue Song ("The Bodyguard") and Jung Byung-gil ("The Villainess"), who previously won the same award. "We never expected to receive outside recognition. This is the first award received for the movie "Geran", which is also my first film," said the director, as quoted by Bernama. He added that winning the award means raising the awareness of Malaysian culture and silat to the world. The movie, which showcases the silat called Gayong Pusaka, revolves around a family who practices the martial art and are trying to defend their honour and their land from being taken away, after the youngest brother disappeared and mortgaged the land's grant to a loan shark. The cast is made up of stars such as Namron, Khoharullah Majid, Feina Tajuddin, Fad Anuar, Azlan Komeng and Megat Shahrizal. "Geran" was released in local cinemas on 10 October 2019 but failed to amass a huge following among moviegoers, despite positive reviews from cinephiles who enjoyed the movie.