For those who missed me on the RTM show Blog, here is the segment. Permission granted by RTM and the series's producers.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
DEATH KNELL FOR MALAY LANGUAGE MOVIES?
Wow...am I being a little be pessimistic or am I just being an alarmist? Hmmmm....in world cinema, Malaysian movies that are making waves (at festival overseas) are not Malay language movies, mostly Mandarin, showing and telling stories from a non-Malay point of view. And yes, they are genuine Malaysian movies. The few Malay movies that get shown overseas would of course be those of Yasmin Ahmad - her films like Muallaf and Talentime get to be viewed overseas, because she is already a known factor.
But names like Ju Han, James Lee, Tan Chui Mui and Ji Min are in the forefront of Malaysian cinema. You do not hear, at these festivals, of names like Adflin Shauki, Razak Maidin, Yusof Haslam, Ahmad Idham and Pierre Andre. We don't exist.
The reasons being? It really doesn't matter because if I was to talk about why, I would rather write a full dissertation or thesis about this phenomena and obtain my Phd. Why do it for nothing right?
Anyway, to make things a little bit more exciting, a group of filmmakers came a calling to Malaysia. This filmmakers, more than 30 of them, young bright and eager directors, were brought here by the Hong Kong Trade Council and the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC) to look for new investment (from Malaysians) and to reignite the Malaysian cinemagoer's love affair with Hong Kong movies.
In the plan which is called the New Action initiative, the FDC creates a new plan to develop the Hong Kong film market in mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. They are using this opportunity to promote their new generations of directors who will be the drivers for the long term development of Hong Kong films.
The initiative seeks to enhance closer collaboration amongst the five major market aforementioned. This is in order to develop their films and for the directors to establish network with film investors, distributors and producers in these markets, and also to seek new business opportunities.
The Chairman of FDC, Jack So (who did not get to meet his counterpart at Finas or even the Director General during their short visit to Finas HQ), said that they believe Malaysia to be an important market for Chinese language movies, and they are seeking to jumpstart their initiative by meeting producers and investors in Malaysia. He said, there are potentially 5 million Chinese speaking cinemagoers in Malaysia and therefore they feel it is important to show their willingness to explore and exploit this market.
Too bad the Malay film producers keep pandering to the whims and fancies of the 300,000 cinemagoers who regularly watch Malay movies instead of the 5 million Chinese speaking audience right here at their doorstep.
As it is, Malay film producers are quite hard up trying to find willing investors to fund Malay movies, yet, these Hong Kong producers came all the way here and are dangling a very potentially lucrative business opportunity to both Malay and non-Malay producers to invest in Chinese language films. These films plays to a massive market which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia (not including breakthrough markets like Korea, Japan and Chinese speaking Americans).
One of the delegates, Wellington Fung, the Secretary-General of the FDC, eloquently laid out the tempting scenario. They have just returned from a successful meeting with the Guangdong authorities. Guangdong, according to him is the largest Cantonese speaking region in mainland China, and therefore an important market to Hong Kong filmmakers who make their films in Cantonese.
The market is huge - Guangdong has a population of just over 100 million.
The FDC initiative caps production costs at US1.5 million (around RM5 million) and the scenario is that, profitability is nearly guaranteed.
They invite Malaysian producers to invest in this programme - for example the cost of a Malaysian made movie i.e Rm1.5 million is about a 20% investment in a film under the said initiative. But instead of risking the movie to a small 300,000 Malay speaking audience, why not invest your money for a project that caters to more than 100 million regional viewers? Sounds tempting doesn't it. That's just hte Cantonese audience. Imagine if you make a movie in Mandarin!
Firstly, with the investment, you'd have a Film Development Council that pushes the film to a wider audience. They would of course want to make sure the movies make money anyhow because the balance of the investment for the movies is covered by them - yes, unlike Finas which only loans money to producers, FDC Hong Kong invests in film projects that they believe can make money or at the least promote the standard of Hong Kong films.
The only catch is that the director, screenwriter and the producer of the film MUST be permanent residents of Hong Kong. Unless the director is a Malaysian-born Hong Kong resident, it is unlikely that the movie would be 'malaysian in flavor at all' except for the money that we put in.
So the dilemma of the Malaysian film investor - to invest money in a Malay film which is very risky or to invest in a Chinese-language film managed by a powerful FDC based in Hong Kong that gives you a better scenario for a return of investment.
As it is, Malaysian money has already filtered out of the country from producers who don't believe in the viability of Malaysian made movies. There's one who have been pumping money into Singapore's film industry - albeit successfully. The film was actually pre-sold and profits already confirmed before a single frame was shot. These are all done through pre-sales and the confirmation of a known film director and marquee cast from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
A few producers are also trying out investing in Indonesian film industry - an industry that is booming.
Unfortunately through these movies, the Malaysian film industry per se does not gain any advantage. Hardly any crew members are Malaysians or Malay, the cast is nearly 90 percent local (Indonesian) with token appearances from Malaysian artistes.
Yet, these films makes money from the Malaysian cinema circuits.
Meanwhile, what does Finas do to counteract this or even strategize to develop our film industry? I really don't know. I know they have announced the increase of funding (through loans) and a grant system for movies with 'national' aspirations.
They have also launched a RM40 million digital sound system facility and finance documentaries through Discovery Channel. And yet, before we know it, the Hong Kong film industry and maybe the advent of Chinese language movies in Malaysia may yet spell the death knell for Malay movies.
I just hope the Malay captains of the Malaysian corporate world see the seriousness of what is happening in the film industry. If we cannot depend on Finas, we need the corporate world to become our saviors, but injecting new thinking, new strategies, new blood and new funding mechanisms and opportunities for the Malay language films. Unless, of course, they worship the all-mighty ringgit and find that the Hong Kong New Action initiative is viable and tempting, and they too start investing in Chinese language films. Why not? Shareholders of multi-national companies are always interested only in the bottom line, and much nothing else.
But names like Ju Han, James Lee, Tan Chui Mui and Ji Min are in the forefront of Malaysian cinema. You do not hear, at these festivals, of names like Adflin Shauki, Razak Maidin, Yusof Haslam, Ahmad Idham and Pierre Andre. We don't exist.
The reasons being? It really doesn't matter because if I was to talk about why, I would rather write a full dissertation or thesis about this phenomena and obtain my Phd. Why do it for nothing right?
Anyway, to make things a little bit more exciting, a group of filmmakers came a calling to Malaysia. This filmmakers, more than 30 of them, young bright and eager directors, were brought here by the Hong Kong Trade Council and the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC) to look for new investment (from Malaysians) and to reignite the Malaysian cinemagoer's love affair with Hong Kong movies.
In the plan which is called the New Action initiative, the FDC creates a new plan to develop the Hong Kong film market in mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. They are using this opportunity to promote their new generations of directors who will be the drivers for the long term development of Hong Kong films.
The initiative seeks to enhance closer collaboration amongst the five major market aforementioned. This is in order to develop their films and for the directors to establish network with film investors, distributors and producers in these markets, and also to seek new business opportunities.The Chairman of FDC, Jack So (who did not get to meet his counterpart at Finas or even the Director General during their short visit to Finas HQ), said that they believe Malaysia to be an important market for Chinese language movies, and they are seeking to jumpstart their initiative by meeting producers and investors in Malaysia. He said, there are potentially 5 million Chinese speaking cinemagoers in Malaysia and therefore they feel it is important to show their willingness to explore and exploit this market.
Too bad the Malay film producers keep pandering to the whims and fancies of the 300,000 cinemagoers who regularly watch Malay movies instead of the 5 million Chinese speaking audience right here at their doorstep.
As it is, Malay film producers are quite hard up trying to find willing investors to fund Malay movies, yet, these Hong Kong producers came all the way here and are dangling a very potentially lucrative business opportunity to both Malay and non-Malay producers to invest in Chinese language films. These films plays to a massive market which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia (not including breakthrough markets like Korea, Japan and Chinese speaking Americans).
One of the delegates, Wellington Fung, the Secretary-General of the FDC, eloquently laid out the tempting scenario. They have just returned from a successful meeting with the Guangdong authorities. Guangdong, according to him is the largest Cantonese speaking region in mainland China, and therefore an important market to Hong Kong filmmakers who make their films in Cantonese.
The market is huge - Guangdong has a population of just over 100 million.
The FDC initiative caps production costs at US1.5 million (around RM5 million) and the scenario is that, profitability is nearly guaranteed.
They invite Malaysian producers to invest in this programme - for example the cost of a Malaysian made movie i.e Rm1.5 million is about a 20% investment in a film under the said initiative. But instead of risking the movie to a small 300,000 Malay speaking audience, why not invest your money for a project that caters to more than 100 million regional viewers? Sounds tempting doesn't it. That's just hte Cantonese audience. Imagine if you make a movie in Mandarin!
Firstly, with the investment, you'd have a Film Development Council that pushes the film to a wider audience. They would of course want to make sure the movies make money anyhow because the balance of the investment for the movies is covered by them - yes, unlike Finas which only loans money to producers, FDC Hong Kong invests in film projects that they believe can make money or at the least promote the standard of Hong Kong films.
The only catch is that the director, screenwriter and the producer of the film MUST be permanent residents of Hong Kong. Unless the director is a Malaysian-born Hong Kong resident, it is unlikely that the movie would be 'malaysian in flavor at all' except for the money that we put in.
So the dilemma of the Malaysian film investor - to invest money in a Malay film which is very risky or to invest in a Chinese-language film managed by a powerful FDC based in Hong Kong that gives you a better scenario for a return of investment.
As it is, Malaysian money has already filtered out of the country from producers who don't believe in the viability of Malaysian made movies. There's one who have been pumping money into Singapore's film industry - albeit successfully. The film was actually pre-sold and profits already confirmed before a single frame was shot. These are all done through pre-sales and the confirmation of a known film director and marquee cast from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
A few producers are also trying out investing in Indonesian film industry - an industry that is booming.
Unfortunately through these movies, the Malaysian film industry per se does not gain any advantage. Hardly any crew members are Malaysians or Malay, the cast is nearly 90 percent local (Indonesian) with token appearances from Malaysian artistes.
Yet, these films makes money from the Malaysian cinema circuits.
Meanwhile, what does Finas do to counteract this or even strategize to develop our film industry? I really don't know. I know they have announced the increase of funding (through loans) and a grant system for movies with 'national' aspirations.
They have also launched a RM40 million digital sound system facility and finance documentaries through Discovery Channel. And yet, before we know it, the Hong Kong film industry and maybe the advent of Chinese language movies in Malaysia may yet spell the death knell for Malay movies.
I just hope the Malay captains of the Malaysian corporate world see the seriousness of what is happening in the film industry. If we cannot depend on Finas, we need the corporate world to become our saviors, but injecting new thinking, new strategies, new blood and new funding mechanisms and opportunities for the Malay language films. Unless, of course, they worship the all-mighty ringgit and find that the Hong Kong New Action initiative is viable and tempting, and they too start investing in Chinese language films. Why not? Shareholders of multi-national companies are always interested only in the bottom line, and much nothing else.
Friday, February 27, 2009
AL FATIHAH - DATO' DR KASSIM HJ ALI
My neighbour, former museum negara curator and former President of the Malaysian Numismatic Society Dato' Dr Kassim Haji Ali, passed away of a stroke yesterday evening at the University Hospital in Petaling Jaya. He was 66.
Though neighbours, we hardly meet each other but less than two weeks ago, we bumped into each at a neighbourhood restaurant whilst having breakfast. He looked well, but I guess no one knows when Allah SWT would call you to return home.
He leaves behind a wife and three sons (Johan, Junaidi dan Jamil).
Al Fatihah.
31 young and new film directors from Hongkong in town!
Blogger with Raymond Wong.
Not many people in the industry knew about it, but yesterday, the Hongkong Trade Council with the Hongkong Film Council arrived in KL for a short visit (2 days) to launch the Hongkong Film Week at GSC Mid Valley and also to introduce 31 young filmmakers to the Malaysian audience.
Surprisingly ot many local industry players were there. Those that were included the Malaysian Film Producer's Association President and Vice President, Encik Ahmad Puad Onah and Tengku Dato' Annuar Musaddad, Encik Zulkifli from FINAS (as the Director General of FINAS, Encik Mahyuddin Mustakim was in Bangkok) and filmmakers Adflin Shauki, Norman KRU, Latip Mahidin and that's it. I went with my colleague Ken S. Yap.
And on the other side, led by the top officials of the Hongkong Film Council were 31 young and exciting film directors from Hongkong. What a missed opportunity!
Also present from Hongkong were two legends of Hongkong cinema, actor-producer Raymond Wong (whose latest movie Ip Man made box office waves around the world to the tune of more than US120 million) and singer-songwriter-actor-producer Teddy Robin.
Multi=talented singer-songwriter-actor-director-producer Teddy Robin was also at the Hong Kong FDC dinner last night.
I will write more about the Hongkong New Film initiative later. Meanwhile, those who want to catch what Hongkong's latest generation of filmmakers have to offer like Decade of Love (which has ten short stories directed by ten new filmmakers) make a beeline to GSC cinemas in Mid Valley.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
MEETING WITH REPS FROM CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
I had the pleasure of meeting a member of the Cannes Directors' Fortnight Selection Commitee, Jeremy Segay, in KLCC, yesterday afternoon. I arrived late because of other commitments. Already there with him were filmmakers Mamat Khalid and Uwei Hj Shaari. Tayangan Unggul producer Gayathri Sulin was also there.
Jeremy was in town on a fact finding mission for an interesting project involving of nation's film history. Will write about it when I get the greenlight to do so.
Nevertheless, it was quite a big deal for us to meet up with him - the man who selects and chooses films for the special Directors' Fortnight in Cannes. For your movie to be screened in that section in Cannes is already an honor.
ANAK WAYANG ON THE BOOB TUBE TOMORROW NIGHT
Tomorrow night, Friday, the 27th of February, on RTM 1, at 10 pm, I will be interviewed live on the talk show Blogger.
A couple of days ago, Dr Mahadi J. Murad, former award winning filmmaker, who now currently teaches at the Faculty of Artistic and Creative Technology, Uitm, called me and asked me if I could appear on the show. To tell you the truth I didn't know the show existed.I believe he is either the series consultant or executive producer. I don't know which.
My immediate response was why me? I'm not a political blogger and I don't even know how many people actually reads my blog.
But Dr Mahadi said this installment will talk about local movies and bloggers who talk about movies...so I said sure why not.
Then he asked me about my animated movie Budak Lapok....something I hardly mention in my blog except when it was screened a while ago. It is also a movie I don't feel like talking about because there's so many things behind the history of the movie's production that I cannot speak of (at least for the time being).
When I asked if I can be privy to the questions to be asked, he said not to worry.
I hate to assume things, but something doesn't sound or feel kosher here. But nevermind, I'll go through it and see what they have in store for me. So to all my friends out there, all 15 of you (hahaha), tune in on Friday to see me being grilled live on TV!!!!
A couple of days ago, Dr Mahadi J. Murad, former award winning filmmaker, who now currently teaches at the Faculty of Artistic and Creative Technology, Uitm, called me and asked me if I could appear on the show. To tell you the truth I didn't know the show existed.I believe he is either the series consultant or executive producer. I don't know which.
My immediate response was why me? I'm not a political blogger and I don't even know how many people actually reads my blog.
But Dr Mahadi said this installment will talk about local movies and bloggers who talk about movies...so I said sure why not.
Then he asked me about my animated movie Budak Lapok....something I hardly mention in my blog except when it was screened a while ago. It is also a movie I don't feel like talking about because there's so many things behind the history of the movie's production that I cannot speak of (at least for the time being).
When I asked if I can be privy to the questions to be asked, he said not to worry.
I hate to assume things, but something doesn't sound or feel kosher here. But nevermind, I'll go through it and see what they have in store for me. So to all my friends out there, all 15 of you (hahaha), tune in on Friday to see me being grilled live on TV!!!!
Monday, February 23, 2009
A NEW PLACE FOR NASI LEMAK IN SS2
There's not really many good places for makan in ss2 in Petaling Jaya. Of course, there's numerous kopitiams, but of late, these overpriced kopitiams are sad remakes of the original kopitiams. And the nasi kandar restaurants? Well, the food may be edible but the service offered by the foreigners who can hardly string a sentence in Malay or English, and who can be downright rude and dumb, makes having breakfast in these places a chore.
So, you can imagine how I felt when I accidentally found a new makan place in ss2, and a bigger surprise - it serves good nasi lemak. Now, when I say nasi lemak, it is not a dish that mixes beef and chicken rendang, with other side dishes and call it antarabangsa. Nasi lemak is a simple dish - the coconut drenched rice (must be very lemak and frangrant), a great sambal tumis, fresh cucumber slices, egg (fried, boiled or telur dadar) and crispy peanuts and ikan bilis. That's it. Well, if you're Singaporean, you might still want a piece of fried ikan selah kuning or otak -otak with your rice - nothing more.
Well, this restaurant, Mama's Special, is owned by a guy named Sunny from Melaka, and I think he has his priorities right. The rice is rich in lemak and fragrant, and you can enjoy with with his thick and rich sambal tumis (you can opt for sambal tumis petai), the fresh sliced cucumbers and crispy ikan bilis and kacang. Of course there's other side dishes if you really want. The otak otak looks and tastes good (according to my wife) whilst the fried chicken is rather tasty with the right pinch of 'crisp bumbu' or 'rempah'.
It is also quite affordable unlike some stupid kopitiams that charge ridiculous prices for a concoction that just manages to pass off as nasi lemak.
So if you are adventurous and looking for good nasi lemak in SS2, give this restaurant a go. It's on the same row as the Maybank (near facing the green lungs of ss2). By the way, they are suffering from the same staffing problem - they hired Myanmar workers who can hardly converse in English, Chinese and Malay.....Arggghhhhhh!!!!
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