HELLO NAGUIB RAZAK

Naguib Razak is the new Director-General Finas. When I called him a week back he confirmed the rumors. He started work yesterday (1st September 2011). Congratulations Naguib. You got your work cut out for you.

The New DG Naguib Razak (left) with former FINAS DG Dato' Mayhiddin Mustakim.

A documentary filmmaker (with awards to boot), Naguib is nevertheless a surprise choice to head the local film development authority. He takes over from Dato Mahyiddin Mustakim who left Finas in June after nearly four years at the helm.

Naguib is an unknown quantity as an administrator and as manager, though most of his documentaries are of international standard. Running a small documentary project is totally different from running firstly the 'political' government agency called FINAS, and secondly taking care of myriad problems, requests and needs of the local film industry.

I see Naguib as someone in the mold of the first Director-General of FINAS, the late Ismail Zain (picture below), an artist turned DG.

Why? Naguib's appointment might be a return to the core of FINAS's function which is to develop quality Malaysian cinema - not to fund it or support it. The development of Malaysian cinema (this includes both Malay movies and Chinese-language Malaysian movies plus local Tamil-language movies) has been fairly ignored. Development is not infrastructure. Building multi-million ringgit buildings that hardly anyone uses is not the key to creating quality cinema. It is building a new generation or even rejuvenate current generation of filmmakers into inspired auteurs. I believe Naguib will listen to those who want to offer something different to the screens - more creative, more cutting edge and hopefully more thought-provoking stuff without losing sight of its Malaysian origins - culturally, socially and psychologically.

I believe, because of Naguib's background, the documentary filmmaking industry in Malaysia is in good hands. However, the feature filmmaking industry which is basically made up of three segments - the commercial filmmakers (i.e. MIG, Grand Brilliance, Tayangan Unggul), the indie filmmakers (Ho Yuhang Woo Ming Jin Amir Muhammd et al) and the serious filmmakers ( Uwei and Dain Said etc) are a different kettle of fish altogether. And it may take awhile for Naguib to figure out how to approach, tackle and lead this segment of the industry.

Whilst the commercial filmmakers are doing reasonably well, what with their movies making RM9million at the box office per pop, FINAS should not let them dictate the future of Malaysian cinema. The world is really waiting for quality Malaysian cinema which to date has actually been shouldered by the indie filmmakers with their no-budget digital movies.

FINAS should really look into giving grants or funding quality cinema. If a mat rempit or Malay gangster script lands on their lap asking for loan, think twice about funding it and look instead at the other script which wants to give insight to the local Malay woman's psyche or something like that. However, if the horror movie script and mat rempit script is truly interesting and original sure why not, but as a body that sets the strategy to improve Malaysian cinema and get it noticed internationally, FINAS needs to get its act together soonest possible.

Whatever it is, I hope Naguib asserts himself in FINAS and in the industry soonest possible. We need to know his direction and his strategies soonest possible. We need to know if he is a no-nonsense man or someone who sways like a lallang. We really need to know if he can stamp his mark as someone who is really serious in supporting and developing the local film industry.

I wish Naguib the best of luck. He is young and energetic and I truly hope to see him push the boundaries of being a FINAS DG. It is a hot seat, but in life a hot seat is better than a cold one. The industry and its citizens will support him in his role as the DG, but if they see the DG as someone who is not going to bring changes but instead support the status quo, the support will wane.

Oh yes, one request Naguib, can you please investigate all the persatuans in the industry? Check if they have their books in order, if they carry out the duties responsibly and if they are actually representing the workers in the industry. It would be great if you did and then get ROS to come in and clean up these persatuans once and for all.

NETWORKING WITH MALAYSIANS WHO HAVE MADE IT INTERNATIONALLY

There is a saying in Malay that translated into English sounds like this: a frog under a coconut shell. (Katak bawah tempurung). It sorts of sums up the mentality of our film industry or for those who wants to be picky and doesn't like me generalising stuff – sums up the majority of our film industry.

We seem to be satisfied with what we have and praise ourselves, pat ourselves on the back and compare each others' work and am totally satisfied with it. Some of the filmmakers I know just want to make movies for the following reasons – cari makan, maybe win some popularity award locally and to be part of a glamor industry.

Very rarely do you hear that they are in it to hone their craft as filmmakers, that they were inspired by movies by Bergman, Satyajit Ray, King Hu, Scorsese, Teguh Karya, John Ford or Kurosawa (for my generation) or by Spielberg, Lucas, Luc Besson, Beat Takeshi, Guy Van Sant or Guy Ritchie (for the younger generation). Or that they are in it to be able to screen their works at Sundance, Venice, Cannes, Berlin or Torino. They are happy to get screened in Rotterdam or Jeju or some small unheard of festivals around the region.

Making it in the film world sometimes isn’t by choice but sometimes by chance. For some, the need to make quality movies seen by a world audience made them leave our shores as they cannot find investors and funders who share their vision of creating a better Malaysian cinema. Of course, the stifling censorship rules here is not something world-class filmmakers can work with too.

Investors are aplenty if you bring scripts that pander to the basest common denominator of our local film going culture – horror and comedy. Drama? Tough. Epics? Expensive and doesn’t draw crowds. Action? Well, this should be the latest trend after the blockbuster performance of KL Gangster – really. Just check out the movie coming soon entitled Bini Bini ku Gangster.

I do not want to knock these genres because great movies do exist in these genres – Exorcist (US), Halloween (US original), The Exile (Hongkong), The Election (Hongkong), Hangover (USA), Godfather (USA), My Wife’s A Gangster (Korea), Shaolin Soccer (Hongkong), 4bia (Thailand) and Ring (Japan) many others.

But somehow, there is a lack of movies that could travel overseas, get quality distribution and also winning important awards at known festivals. Would the world market want to see Merong Mahawangsa when they have Bangrajan and Langsuka? Would they want to screen KL Gangster when they have Merantau, Ong Bak and Beat Takeshi movies?

What do we need to break this barrier? I believe to start off, we need to meet with Malaysians who have made it overseas. Either with those who made movies that make money or won awards. And there are a few.

At the top of the list would be Michelle Yeoh.

A Hollywood and Hongkong film action icon, Datuk Michelle Yeoh is one person who could single-handedly help give Malaysian filmmakers exposure to the world.

Datuk Michelle Yeoh, former Bond girl and cast as Suu Kyi in her latest movie

She knows people, she knows how the business works internationally and she is talented. Her latest movie about Myanmar heroine Suu Kyi may actually garner her an Academy award nomination.

Second on the list is James Wan, a Kuching-born Australian filmmaker whose claim to fame is creating and directing the first Saw movie. He also supervises the Saw franchise which is in its seventh outing (Saw 3D). His latest directorial effort is Insidious.

Saw franchise creator and director is from Kuching

He is the only Malaysian-born filmmaker to have produced 8 Hollywood feature length movies to date of which he directed five. He is what Hollywood refer to as flavor of the month filmmaker due to the overwhelming success of his Saw franchise.

Third in line would be critically acclaimed Tsai Ming Liang who is now Taiwan’s top filmmaker. Like Wan, Tsai was born in Kuching but instead of US-bound, he went to Taiwan to make movies.

Tsai Ming Liang is one of the most original directors of his era

As a Malaysian-born filmmaker, he has most impressive awards list having won at the prestigious Venice (Vive L’amore), Berlin (The River) and Cannes (The Hole). No other Malaysian or Malaysian-born filmmaker can boast such an impressive CV.
Fourth in the list is a relative unknown but a powerful socialite in the US. She is Florence Low Sloan, who has just produced her critically acclaimed movie Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, directed by Wayne Wang.

Florence Low-Sloan with hubby and Meryl Streep

Malaysian-born Florence is married to the former CEO of MGM, Harry Sloan. The daughter of local developer magnate Tan Sri Low Keng Huat, Florence formed a company called Big Feet Productions which produced Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Considered as one of the most powerful Asian ladies in the US, her partner in the movie company is another powerful Asian woman, Wendy Deng Murdoch, the third and current wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Fifth would be Encik Shahril Ibrahim, a friend of mine who left for the US and stayed on to become one of the top CGI software engineers in the American film industry.

Shahril (Right) chilling out with friends back home in KL.

He began his film career as the software development head in Bossfilms supervising CGI work on Species, Multiplicity, Outbreak, Turbulence and Desperate Measures. He is now attached to Californian award winning effects house Ryhtm & Hues as Senior Advisor.

These are amongst the few Malaysians who have the pulse of the international film industry in their hands. These are the people that the Malaysian film industry should know and meet up and network with. These are the people that FINAS or the Malaysian government should woo to set up companies and exploit their experience overseas as filmmakers.

Forget about baby-gloving Shahrukh Khan with titles and location sponsorships. Get these people who are Malaysian-born and get them to introduce filmmakers, young and old (me, me and me), to producers, investors and distributors who would be able to identify talent and nurture them and open doors of opportunities in the international filmmaking scene.

BEST MOVIES I'VE WATCHED THIS YEAR

Below are a short list of movie's that I've watched and enjoy - either as popcorn kinda entertainment or for its aesthetics.

US of A
Tough year...haven't seen anything I really liked. However, be it known that I have not seen the final Harry Potter movie or Captain America. Not that I think these two would change my mind that nothing interesting have come out of Hollywood this year. Am waiting to get my hands on Woody Allen's latest movie Midnight in Paris. However, I did enjoy watching I am Number Four, Fast Five, Hanna and Source Code. Big disappoints? Green Hornet, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers.

ENGLAND
Loved Attack The Block. Unpretentious fun. Ten times better than Hollywood's Super 8. The King's Speech is another must see. Can't wait for the second edition of Sherlock Holmes later this year.

CHINA
Wayne Wang's Snow Flower and The Secret Fan was mesmerising. Though the story was a little convoluted, I just allowed myself to be taken by the flawless cinematography which was like watching the famous Chinese painter Chan Yifei's works come to vivid life.

KOREA
Nowhere Man and I Saw The Devil stands out from the rest.

JAPAN
I enjoyed a Takashi Miike's 13 Assassin - a remake of the famous 13 Ronin samurai movie.

INDIA
I loved Peepli Live. Though its a 2010 movie, I only got to watch it this year.

MALAYSIA
I only enjoyed a couple of movies that were produced locally. However I can only say that I truly enjoyed only one movie Homecoming. Eventhough its a co-pro between Malaysians and Singaporeans, I have to say that it was an excellent movie to watch. No Bahasa Malaysia-language Malaysian movies made my list.

INDONESIA
Sang Pencerah, Bebek Belur, 3 Hati and A Mirror Never Lies. Excellent cinema. Good movies.

THAILAND
I loved Hello Stranger! and Suck Seed.

DREAMS DASHED, WONDERING WHAT'S NEXT

Being a filmmaker isn't much fun. Especially when it's so difficult to get your ideas, your thoughts, your dreams onto the screen.
Malaysian movies (not cinema) are going great guns. Formulaic, noisy, brash movies are minting loads of money, making the new generation of filmmakers smile proud and their producers swooning in amazement.
With KL Gangster breaking all box office records for a Malay movie, producers today would not be happy if their movies now break the RM6 million mark. If KL Gangster can recoup more than RM12 million at the box office, why can't other filmmakers do the same.
So expect a slow of slick action movies ala KL Gangster to hit the screens forthwith. No story, no character development, just fast paced mindless action.
At least, this genre is a welcomed break from the numbing horror movies that filled the local cinema slate last year. Of course, we have that crappy epic called Merong Mahawangsa which will most probably sweep most of the awards at the coming Malaysian Film Festival.
That would be a travesty as the movie could not even meet the festival's language ruling.
Meanwhile, we await the latest offerings from Adflin Shauki who has just completed his Papadom 2 and Mamat Khalid who surprisingly is doing a sequel to his unappreciated Rock. The sequel which recently wrapped principal shooting in Taiping and Ipoh is simply called Rock 2. Having made one of the biggest box office hits of his career last year with his Hantu Mak Limah Pulang Ke Rumah, I guess he is entitled to chase his dreams.
Other filmmakers like the prolific Ahmad Idham and Prof Madya Razak Maidin seemed to have reached their plateaus. Most of Ahmad Idham's movies are forgettable mush whilst Razak who has now taken over UITM's Faculty of Arts and Creative Technology (FACT) as its Dean, will be taking a sabbatical from filmmaking whilst creating little Razak-clones for the Malaysian film industry.
Whilst all these are happening, nothing much is happening in FINAS as the industry is kept wondering who would fill the vacant post of Director-General. The former DG, the now Dato' Mahyuddin Mustakim, left at the end of June. Since then the two Deputy KPs have been holding fort for FINAS. Previously, there was so much hype about who is going to replace Mahyuddin but surprisingly this time round, the Malay press have been keeping mum about the choices available for the hot seat.
Personally, I hope the government would choose internally. I believe having a professional administrator is much better having someone with experience or connections to the film industry (for the time being). FINAS needs to be stabilised after Mahyuddin's stint, not that he left FINAS in a mess, but it really needs someone who will not be conflicted and distracted by stuff that is not beneficial to FINAs and the film industry itself.
Having a civil servant, who is efficient and who is supported by a punch of Director (Pengarahs) who are already in the groove, would be ideal. FINAS then could look into the possibility of actually reshuffling their Board, again dropping all those with connections to the local film industry (to avoid claims of conflicts of interest) and appoint professionals from NGOs, banks, staturoy bodies and other agencies including academicians.
Meanwhile, if FINAS still needs the advice and intelligent musings of practitioners like Mustafa Maarof and David Teoh, they can always create a Film Industry Advisory Panel.
I doubt all this will happen, but one can always hope.

Thai Epics - We Can Only Dream To Match Them.

Thai filmmakers are getting more and more ambitious with their movies. Ever since Tanit Jitnukul's massive hit Bang Rajan was released in 2000, Thai filmmakers, who can pool millions of dollars for their quest of producing epic movies, have tried to better it.



One such filmmaker is Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol whose Suryothai in 2001 sort of set new standards for the Kingdom's epic movies.



Such was Suryothai's impact in global cinema, that Francis Ford Coppola agreed to lend his name as Executive Producer in the re-cut international release.
Award winning filmmaker, Nonzee Nimbutr, whose horror flick Nang Nak, became a massive hit domestically and internationally, also tried his hand at directing an epic - the 2008 movie Queens of Langkasuka. Nonzee's movie, even with its faults, to me was the best Malay epic ever produced in Thai language. Those who watched it know what I mean.



However, it is Prince Yukol that sealed his status as the Kingdom's best epic filmmaker. He stamped his class with his Naresuan Trilogy.



The first part was released in 2007. Part two, released as Kingdom of War overseas was released a year later. However, the final part (Naresuan 3) was only released earlier this year.
Budget-wise, the trilogy is the most expensive produced films in Thailand's history.
And if you had seen any of the three, you can see why.
I haven't seen Part 3 yet, but Part 2 was a truly amazing epic.
Eventhough the story is a little convoluted due to the many palace intrigues and the politics of ancient Siam, the pay off at the end is worth the wait.
The final battle scenes which lasted easily an hour in duration is also breathtaking.
Watching Naresuan makes me believe that unless we really have similar kind of funds, we shouldn't even try to make epics.
Naresuan makes both Puteri Gunung Ledang and Merong Mahawangsa look so pitiful. Not only in technical terms, but also in the storytelling department.
Just look at the trailer of Naresuan 2 and you'll know what I mean.



Catch the movie, be patient in trying to remember the names of the princes and lords, the numerous kingdoms at war, the beautiful heroines and the numerous colorful tribes involved in this bit of Ayuthiya history, and enjoy the movie as it sends you on a rollercoaster ride in the last act.

Do Malays really care about their heritage and past?

This post is not about movies. Like I said, sometime I would write about something else that I think is important to me, and hopefully important to others too.

The title of this post as one can read is "Do Malays really care about their heritage and their past?"

Why of a sudden?

Well, I believe not many knew of plans for a Museum of Malay Civilisation. It was to trace the origins, traditions, beliefs, history and diaspora of the Malays and was to be located in Putrajaya.

I thought that this museum should have been constructed and set up a long time ago because I believe not many Malays actually understand their heritage and better still not many non-Malays appreciate the Malay race - its history, its culture and traditions and its origins.

Unfortunately, this project and proposal didn't see the light of day.

If I am not mistaken, the museum that was supposed to house the Malay civilisation permanent exhibit has now become the Museum of Natural History in Putrajaya.

I am not sure why the museum was scrapped. Maybe someone in the government believes that such a museum is not politically correct. If this is so, it is sad.

This talk for the above museum was maybe five-six years ago. Now it is a forgotten chapter in our history. Not even a chapter, hardly a footnote even.

Then sometime back, about two years ago, there was talk of turning the old Istana Negara into a Museum Di Raja Malaysia. This historic building, previously owned by a famous Chinese millionaire Chan Wing.

Wikipedia states:

The palace was originally a double-storey mansion built in 1928 by a l

ocal Chinese millionaire,Chan Wing. During the Japanese occupation from 1942–1945, it was used as the Japanese officers’ mess. After the surrender of the Japanese, the building was bought by the Selangor State Government. It was then renovated to become the palace of His Majesty the Sultan of Selangor until 1957.

The Federal Government then bought the palace in 1957, to be converted into the Istana Negara for the newly created sovereign post

of Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya which was about to achieve independence that August as scheduled. Since then it has undergone several renovations and extensions. But the most extensive upgrading was carried out in 1980, as it was the first time that the Installation Ceremony of His Majesty DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong was held at the Istana Negara. Prior to this the Installation Ceremonies were held at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Hall in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur with the first one held in 1957.

In about a year's time, the new billion over-Ringgit National Palace will be completed and it will be the new official residence of our Yang Di Pertuan Agong.

So the old Istana Negara will be vacant.

I thought then the idea to turn the old Istana Negara into a Royal Museum was long overdue.

Malaysia's constitutional monarchy is unique if not the only one of its kind in the world. The Malaysian Agong-ship is as old as the nation, created in 1957 when the country achieved its Independence.

But whilst the Agong's position is only 54 years old, the Malay Sultanate is much older. Quite old, in fact, and its history should not only be recorded, but should be exhibited and made known to all Malaysians and other interested parties in a single museum.

The content in such a Royal museum would be educational, interesting and entertaining.

Simple facts like the Melaka Sultanate is not the first nor the old

est Malay sultanate in the Malay Peninsula should be made available to the public, at least to correct misconceptions.

Little forgotten facts like the late Sultan Abdullah of Perak, who was exiled to Seychelles when wrongly found guilty by a kangaroo court of being involved in the assassination of Perak Resident J.W.W. Birch.

The British exonerated the Sultan and allowed him to return to Malaya albeit without allowing him to claim to his rightful throne. However he managed to retain the title of ex-Sultan of Perak upon his return to his homeland.

Whatever it is, the Malays hold the Malay Sultans or Rajahs in high esteem. They have daulat. The Malays lay all their hopes in terms of upholding religion (Islam), budaya (culture) and ras (race) on this system of monarchy.

It would not be far fetched to say that without the Malay monarchy or the Malay Sultans, the Malay race would be nothing.

So, archiving everything about the history of the Malay monarchy is akin to archiving the history of the Malays.

And since the museum of Malay civilisation was stillborn, I was really hoping that the plans to turn the Istana Negara into the National Royal Museum would materialise.

Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed.

I hear commercialisation again wins the day.

Reliable sources recently said that the proposal to turn the old Istana Negara into the Royal Museum has been officially scrapped and now, it seems, someone has won a negotiated bid to turn the 83-year old property into a 6-star luxury hotel.

Another one bites the dust.

What is again frustrating is that if my sources can be relied on, the proposal for the Royal Museum has been approved by various levels of government including the Economic Planning Unit. Yet, it was rejected without rhyme nor reason.

A building listed under the National Heritage list somehow manages to slip through leaks and into the hands of hoteliers who want to commercialise the area into something I believe will not be appreciated by most Malaysians.

Remember the old Majestic Hotel? Destroyed. Remember Bukit Bintang Girl School? It's now the Pavilion.Remember St Mary's Girl School? Flattened. Remember Pavilion Cinema? A carpark. Remember the old Museum of Kuala Lumpur in Dataran Merdeka? Now it's a restaurant.

What next? The Parliament building? The St John's Institution? Victoria Institution?

That's just in Kuala Lumpur. What about the hundreds of other historical buildings in danger of being torn down to make way for modern buildings.

If Istana Negara can be turned into a 6-star hotel, what can we say about other buildings with lesser historical impact?

I think the powers that be should really take pause, and realise that sometimes, the conservation of heritage is more important than dollars and cents. Their decisions can embarrass and even insult the people they promised to serve.

Malay movies raking money! Or is it?

If we were to take the Finas box office charts as official, then the last quarter of 2010 seems to be the beginning of a new era of Malaysian or Malay movies. The numbers that were being coined are above anyone’s wildest imagination and expectation.
The top five movies of 2010 and including the first six months of 2011, all broke the six million ringgit mark.
Whilst most people thought Mamat Khalid’s Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah was the box office king, according to Finas’s list, which according to its site is accurate as of April 2011, the horror comedy Ngangkung, produced by MIG, is the current box office king with RM8.18 million in ticket sales.
Khurafat, directed by last year’s best director winner, Shamsul Yusof, took in RM8.08 million which pushes Mamat's Kak Limah into third place with RM7.90 million.
Another MIG production, Adnan Sempit made the top five list with RM7.66 million.

Many thought Adnan Sempit’s box office take was a fluke for Malay movies, having been the first local production to amass takings that exceeded the previously untouchable RM7 million mark. But now, four movies have since passed that mark within 12 months.
KRU’s convoluted and confusing and hardly ‘Malay’ movie Merong Mahawangsa: The Malay Chronicles, took in RM6.5million to date and just made it to the Top 5 list. However, as most industry people already know, MIG’s Kongsi directed by actor-director Farid Kamil, has already bypassed Merong’s take within a week of its release.
In fact, David Teoh of MIG is confident Kongsi will be the first local movie to break the RM10million barrier.
Whilst some are calling the last 12 months an exciting period for Malay movies, with 5 movies taking in a total of nearly RM50 million, what they fail to notice the other titles that fell on the wayside. Amongst these include Associate Professor’s Razak Mahyidin’s horror flick Ratu and M. Jamil’s miserable Momok 2.
Others that didn’t even show on the radar include Senjakala, Seru, Haq, Dalam Botol, Di Sini Ada Hantu, Cun!, Di Larang Masuk, Penunggu Istana and Kembar Siang.
Ratu was the worse performing movie having only taken RM200,000 at the box office. James Lee’s Di Sini Ada Hantu did better by getting RM1.2 million. Momok 2: Jangan Panggil Aku took in less than half a million. However, I cannot seem to get an official box office report for Antara Dua Alam.
These are all rought estimates as listed on FINAS’s website and as most people in the industry knows, 50 percent of the take goes to the cinemas and distributors. Therefore the producers only take half of the box office takings.
These means, Ratu’s take for the producer is about RM100,000 whilst Di Sini Ada Hantu’s producers Double Vision and Tayang Unggul take in less that RM600,000.
If the average cost of producing a local movie is in the region of RM1.5 million, then in actual fact, not many producers are actually making a profit from their movies this last 12 months.
Merong Mahawangsa, reputedly made from grants totalling in access of RM10 million, had a box office take of over RM6 million but take away the cinema’s owners take of RM3million, their net take was only RM3 million plus. Therefore, they are still RM7 million in the red. Their only saving grace for KRU is that the grants given to them for the movie are ‘grants’ and not loans.
These figures are also only revenue earned in Malaysia. Therefore news of sales of Merong Mahawangsa made by its producers that the movie has been sold to overseas markets for more than RM20 million ringgit is be good news to everyone on board KRU and the institutions that gave them the grants. The movie, if the sales figures announced are true, is therefore a financial success.
Other producers. Are now sweating cold beads waiting for the release of their films. Grand Brilliance's Nur Kasih went head to head with the latest installment of Pirates of The Carribean. Movies with clout like Thor and Fast And Furious are still pulling in the crowds taking away possible revenue from local filmmakers.
However, Nur Kasih is not really being affected by the foreign movies but rather of Kongsi’s phenomenal showing in the same week. The coming week’s school holidays will be crucial to Nur Kasih’s success. More so since the reportedly production cost for this movie based on TV3’s successful series cost RM2.8 million to produce.
On the other hand, Datuk Yusof Haslam would be relieved to see Kongsi’s screen success as his latest movie, directed by Shamsul, is also of the same genre entitled KL Gangster, and he would be happy if it could match Kongsi’s take.
Other movies waiting on the sideline nervously include 321 Cinta, Rasuk, Sekali Lagi, Tolong Awek Aku Pontianak, Karipap Karipap Cinta, Libas, Flat 3A, Hantu Bonceng and Raya Tak Jadi.
All except Libas, are either comedy or horror. Libas, is a comedy-sports-action movie in the vein of Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer.