Future of Malaysian Cinema (Part II): Film Folk Have Their Say On FINAS’ Role, Expectations and An Oscar Reality
Last week we aired it out about what the new Malaysian film industry of the future needs to thrive, and expectations from FINAS as we collectively and figuratively hope to ‘make the Oscars’ by 2017 through a few notable voices.
This week, we take a more pragmatic look at the pipe dream, through the lens of some of the more seasoned local film players.
Pragmatism and maturity in 2015
“We view Datuk Kamil’s appointment positively and see his past experience in an international multi-national corporation and MDEC as an important value-add to FINAS,” says Najwa Abu Bakar of Astro Shaw.
“One thing practical for Astro Shaw as a major local distributor-producer to know is for FINAS itself to understand the strategic overview of the content industry’s transformation plans, specifically the film industry, over the next five years. That includes FINAS’ key strategies and action points if these can be made available to share with industry movers.”
Najwa believes what is worth knowing is FINAS’ hopes for transformation and an accomplishment objective which will see Malaysia as a vibrant content hub for producing quality film and TV products that are bankable both within and outside the domestic market.
“Basically, (what is worked towards is) a sustainable business model for the content ecosystem,” she adds.
SGrand Brilliance general manager Tengku Iesta Tengku Alaudin says: “It would be great for FINAS to set a good infrastructure in place that provides content creators the opportunity to produce at a higher budget, which would increase the market size to sell these productions to.”
The exclusivity long associated with FINAS as the country’s governing film industry affairs body has for the time being remained so, though Dato’ Kamil’s promising arrival has approached four months now.
The former MDEC man has recently felt pushed to defend his new gig though, stating that it’s “not fair for FINAS to be bullied” and that the transition takes time.
“It took me ten years to instill lasting change within MDEC, and to re-apply the transparency into the film industry will take time,” he said recently speaking at an Industry Speaks session entitled “Cashing in on Films in Malaysia: Investment and Opportunities”.
Presently Dato’ Kamil – a big fan of cinema and a curator-level music lover (Kamil was a radio deejay with his own John Peel-esque music show on Time Highway Radio in the 1990s; a legacy which revives itself on Bernama Radio this month with his son taking over) – as the new DG is still defensible and many believe that his enthusiasm, capacity and track record with the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) will yield results, given time.
Nandita Solomon, seasoned producer who is presently in full throttle for Dain Said’s upcoming ‘Interchange’ (an early contender for the touted ‘Oscars 2017-18’ dream perhaps?) feels that “it is still early days”, “expectations are obviously high” and that the whole industry will just “have to wait and see.”
Does she feel ‘Interchange’ could be a contender to take Malaysia to the Oscars come 2017 under the foreign film category?
“It is premature but hopefully it means efforts are underway to put a roadmap in place – a roadmap to producing more films which international and local audiences can appreciate,” Nandita says.
James Lee of Doghouse73 Pictures did not have much of a public opinion on the matter, finding it “hard to justify the fact that it’s just less than a year” when asked about industry expectations from Dato’ Kamil’s tenure. Lee’s one question though: ‘Will there be a special grant for filmmakers and content creators working online, especially on YouTube?’
“Kamil has a lot of orientation to get through as part of his induction into FINAS. He has to learn how FINAS works, and although coming from MDEC means he may have been exposed to similar matters, he still has a lot to learn and it’s going to take time,” opines director Saw Teong Hin meanwhile.
“Besides, the 100-day thing is an artificial construct. Why do people expect something significant from being in office for 100 days, why not 120, or 30 or 40?”
“Kamil’s very passionate about his film, he loves his film and he knows his stuff, so I’m really optimistic about the future of FINAS and the future of our cinema,” says Dominique. The experienced producer points to laidback Mauritius and wartorn Afghanistan – two entries among the 84 countries which submitted films to the Academy last year – as just a couple of examples of what Malaysia’s excuse might be.
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