STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
MALAYSIA FILM FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS THE CREAM OF THE CROP
THE players in the local film industry have been growing from strength to strength in creating more quality content that touches on relevant issues and stories. In the past few years, cinemagoers have been offered some very Malaysian feature films that reflect the diversity of culture and a keen sense on the pulse of the nation.
It’s heartening that recognition has been given to those screen gems through the ongoing Malaysia Film Festival (FFM) that highlights the deserving cream of the crop.
Dubbed by some as the local version of the Academy Awards, FFM, which had its 30th instalment last Saturday at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre, was a continuation of this much appreciated development and definitely a step in the right direction.
UNPRECEDENTED WIN
The star-studded night saw gritty crime drama Crossroads: One Two Jaga deservedly joining the ranks of previous winners like Jagat and Adiwiraku when it bagged the Best Film award.
A film that focussed on tackling the uncommon and sensitive subjects of police corruption and the plight of immigrants in the country, One Two Jaga also won five other awards making it the top dog of this year’s FFM30.
They were for Best Director (Nam Ron), Best Actor (Dr Rosdeen Suboh), Best Screenplay (Amri Rohaiyat, Fared Ayam and Nam Ron), Best Original Story (Pitt Haniff, Muhammad Syafiq and Nam Ron) and Best Poster (Jazzy Pictures).
The unprecedented big win was endorsement that those who persevere and work hard to realise their non-populist vision of telling unconventional local stories that could triumph.
During a post-event interview, director Shahili Abdan or Nam Ron said: “Any work of art must have a distinct voice and I follow that principle when I make films.”
“I had much difficulty to get support for many of my works when I was doing more independent releases since they rarely featured good-looking heroes and heroines,” added the 49-year-old filmmaker, who has also acted in Bunohan,
Redha and Gubra.
Considering One Two Jaga’s content, it would have previously been unthinkable that such a film would be screened in cinemas to begin with.
But that was exactly why Nam Ron was so adamant at putting it out. He said: “The strength of One Two Jaga is its fresh content and powerful story. It highlights issues that concern the everyday people and the reality of things in this country.”
MORE RELEVANT STORIES
The director added that this recognition would spur him on to continue to make films that explore relevant and prickly topics. “I motivated to do this because I have problems with what’s happening around me in our society,” he said.
When asked about what topics he might be tackling next, he mused: “Perhaps I’ll be making a film that centres on the corruption amongst ministers next.”
Nam Ron also thanked One Two Jaga producer Bront Palarae for his steely persistence in making sure that the film would see the day of light.
It was previously reported that the team had already started working on the film in 2014 but shooting only began in 2017. In between there were many back-andforth instances on having to get the script approved by the Royal Malaysia Police before the filming could be done.
“Even though it was rejected again and again, Bront fought on because he believed in the work. And not many are aware that we fought for One Two Jaga tobe screened in cinemas long before the new government came into office. Yes, it was released in 2018 but we got the release date before the new government took over,” he said.
Nam Ron added that he hoped the current government would make it easier for films like One Two Jaga to be made and screened in cinemas.
DIVERSE ACHIEVEMENTS
FFM30, which was organised by the Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (Finas) in partnership with
local film bodies and supported by the Ministry of Communications And Multimedia, also saw a movie about an autistic young man with a wonderful talent who can’t seem to hold down a job garnering multiple awards.
The touching Mandarin-language drama, titled Guang, took home four trophies for Best Sound (Chan Hsien Yu), Best New Actor (Kyo Chen), Best Cinematographer (Yeong Tuck Wei) and Best New Director (Quek Shio Chuan).
The semi-autobiographical film was based on Quek’s award-winning short film of the same name from 2011.
The night had some very pleasant moments in recognising the best among a varied serving of films as well when Jaya Ganason won for Most Promising Actress for her role in the Tamil film, The Farm: En Veettu Thottathilas.
A special jury award had also gone to the dramedy Vedigundu Pasangge for making history as the first Tamil language movie in Malaysia to garner a box office earning that went over the RM1 million mark.
DARK HORSE
Another film which featured a taboo subject that took home multiple awards that night was the Dain Said-directed legal horror thriller Dukun. It received four awards for Best Costume (Andy Sulaiman), Best Visual Effects (PixelPost), Best Editing (Raja Affandi Raja Jamaludin) and Best Actress (Datin Seri Umie Aida).
The film was loosely inspired by Mona Fandey who was executed in 2001 after being found guilty for the murder of Datuk Mazlan Idris in 1993. It was a long but worthwhile wait since Dukun, which got filmed in 2006, was only screened in cinemas last year.
During her acceptance speech, Umie, who played the titular deadly shaman Diana Dahlan said: “This win is for all the actresses who play strong women in movies. I hope more films will continue to showcase and elevate the role of women.”
Apparently, the 49-year-old actress, who won in the same category back in 2003 for Embun, had gone to extreme measures to prepare for her role as the seductive screen femme fatale.
“I am very grateful to have had the chance to portray this character. Although I’ve always been choosy about my roles, I feel that I’ve been lucky in my career to have gotten a lot of good roles,” she said during a post-event interview.
The actress added: “I don’t mind if I don’t make movies every year. My job is to give my best to a role. That is my main concern.”
BOOM TIME
It seems that the local movie industry is developing and growing not just in quality but in quantity as well with box office takings at an all-time high, as witnessed by last year’s very encouraging and recordbreaking collections achieved by several films.
The astonishing and unusual numbers were pretty much public knowledge, so it was no surprise that Munafik 2 managed to bag the special category award for Box Office Film.
After all, the affecting horror film directed by Syamsul Yusof had earned a whopping RM37.8 million (according to the Finas website) collection at the box office in Malaysia alone.
The previously unheard of amount has made it the highest grossing local feature film in Malaysian history.
During his acceptance speech, Munafik producer and veteran film industry personality Datuk Yusof Haslam was naturally proud of the achievement but added that it was a win for everyone as well.
“This is not only a victory for me but also for the industry. This really proves that Malaysians do want to watch Malaysian films,” he said.
Addressing all the people involved in the local film and creative industry, he added: “So don’t let failure break your spirit. We have to keep on fighting.”
Hosted by Nabil Ahmad and Adibah Noor, with Communications and MultimediaMinisterGobindSinghDeo as the guest of honour, FFM 30 also featured an array of performances by Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, Datuk
Afdlin Shauki, Datin Alyah, Jaclyn Victor, Zizi Kirana, Nicole Lai,
Sophia Liana, Billy Zulkarnain,
Datuk Jamal Abdillah, Hafiz Suip, Innuendo, Flag Nation, Syamel and
Ernie Zakri.
Film fans can watch One Two Jaga, which is being re-screened at TGV Cinemas in eight locations (Sunway Pyramid, Wangsa Walk, 1Utama, Tebrau City, Bukit Raja, KLCC, Dpulze and Kinta City) from now till April 10. Ticket prices are RM5. Visit www.tgv.com. my for details.