Malaysian-made Tamil film is not considered as Malaysian movie. v certainly living in racist country!!!! read the following NST article.
`Non-Malaysian' films get recognition
by Amir Muhammad
NST. 18 Jan 2007.
TWO days ago, I attended a lunchtime ceremony organised by the National Film
Development Agency (Finas). It was to launch a training programme, script competition
and to acknowledge Malaysian films that have won international awards in 2006.
These are the films that received certificates for achieving that much-vaunted
"international recognition" :
1. Bilut, directed by Bade Azmi
2. Love Conquers All, by Tan Chui Mui
3. Rain Dogs, by Ho Yuhang
4. Company of Mushrooms, by Tan Chui Mui
5. Tuesday Be My Friend, by Chris Chong
6. Adults Only, by Yeo Joon Han
7. Majidee, by Azharr Rudin
Now here's a thing. Aside from the first and last titles, all the films happen to be in
Chinese. But they are shot locally with local talent. (Rain Dogs did, however, receive money
from a Hong Kong company.)
Only Bilut and Majidee are in Malay.
The fact that local films are now being made in languages other than Malay should be
something worth celebrating.
We should eventually even get films in Iban, Kadazan and other languages not normally
represented on our screens.
It's important because there are so many stories we have not yet told.
True, the box-office returns are paltry: The most successful local film not in Malay has
been Spinning Gasing in 2001, which grossed RM484,000. Compare this to last year's
takings, in which 15 Malay films managed to make more than that.
The quality or nationality of a film shouldn't depend on its language. That is why Finas, as
a public body, did well to acknowledge these triumphs.
But in other aspects, bureaucracy has been slow to respond to changes. Films that are not
at least 70 per cent in Malay are not deemed as "Malaysian films" according to the Finas
Act and the National Film Policy.
This could just be simple semantics if it didn't have financial implications as well.
When local films in non-Malay languages are screened in cinemas, they don't get the 25
per cent tax exemption that Malay-language films get.
Another stipulation is that these films have to be shot mainly in Malaysia. Otherwise, they
are classified as foreign films!
The funny thing is, there have been a few films that certainly didn't have 70 per cent Malay
dialogue and yet managed to get their tax exemption. These include Persona Non Grata
and Qaisy & Laila, both produced by Nizarman.
If someone were hardworking enough to count the dialogue in both films, they will find
that English accounts for at least 40 per cent of each. Is English a more Malaysian
language than Chinese?
Another film, Gong, produced by Grand Brilliance but shot entirely in Indonesia, managed
to get the tax break too. Is Indonesia considered local soil?
With these inconsistencies in mind, why is it that local films shot entirely in Malaysia in
Chinese are still not considered "Malaysian"?
Full disclosure: I am a partner in Da Huang Pictures which produced Love Conquers All and
Company of Mushrooms. I was there to collect the awards on behalf of Tan Chui Mui, who
is now in Europe.
When Mui invited me to join her company, she did ask whether we should change the
name. But I didn't think it was necessary. After all, companies with names like Metrowealth
and Grand Brilliance are considered oh-so-Malaysian. So why not Da Huang Pictures?
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