Based on the novel, Juara, by S. Othman Kelantan, Mamat, a Malaysian, works in Southern Thailand as a trainer in bullfighting (a jogho). In this small village, the winnings from the gambling during bull-fights, maintains the village economy. But when a village leader is killed during a bull-fight, Mamat has to uphold the village’s honour by taking revenge. But a cycle of violence soon follows. U-Wei bin Haji Saari is the key Malaysian filmmaker preceding the rise of the Malaysian New Wave in 2000. His seminal work was his feature debut, Woman, Wife and Whore (1993). In 1995, his third feature, The Arsonist (1994), became the first Malaysian film to be selected in Cannes. The Champion (Jogho) is his fourth work and his latest feature, Hanyut (2011), based on Joseph Conrad’s Almayer’s Folly will be released in 2011.