Born in 1958, Anwardi Jamil began his career as a cartoonist, journalist and film critic. Anwardi’s feature film debut, Tuah, won the Jury Prize at the 1989 Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Jakarta. In 2000, he started Matahari Animation company and jointly produced the feature film Cheritera. In 2003, he directed and produced Malaysia’s first English language digital film Ah Lok Kafe The Movie. He has also written a book on the history of the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.