MELBURNIANS will soon get a chance to watch the late Yasmin Ahmad’s Muallaf at the Australian Malaysian Film Festival (AMFF) from Oct 4 to 7 at the city’s cultural landmark, Federation Square.
Organised by A2K Media, the festival pays tribute to the legendary film maker and opens with Talentime, a love story about an Indian boy and a mixed-race Malay girl who fall in love during a talent quest at school.
Muallaf or ‘The Convert’ is slated to screen on the last day and tells the story of two Muslim sisters who escape their abusive father, forming an unlikely relationship with a Catholic boy who harbours a dark past.
“Yasmin prevailed although she was confronted with many challenges. Her films are one of the most powerful pictures seen in Malaysian cinema,” said Farah Al Amin, AMFF’s event coordinator.
The film festival, is part of the inaugural Malaysia Week, a pet project of the various Malaysian Student Organisations in the state of Victoria. Malaysia Week starting from September 27 to October 13, aims to promote Malaysia through a showcase of arts, culture and tourism.
Apart from the film festival, other highlights of the month long Malaysian extravaganza include the Fiesta Malaysia, an exhibition of Malaysian batik and designs, a career fair and the gala dinner “Malam Gemilang”.
“This year’s films will be screened during the day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and are specifically chosen for a predominately young Australian student audience,” added Al Amin.
The organisers have invited secondary and tertiary teachers along with their students to attend these screenings and hope to include discussions with those behind these entertaining films.
Among the films to be featured include animated feature Geng The Movie, highly acclaimed Cicakman 2, My Telatori a short animation by students of The One Academy and the emotionally charged Pensil by M. Subash.
This year’s films showcase a diverse range of genres from comedy, action adventure to melodrama and offers positive messages of hope, depictions of the human condition and universal themes that everyone can identify and connect with.
Featured films will be screened at Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square, Flinders Street, Melbourne.
taken by: http://www.mmail.com.my/content/13767-malaysian-films-australian-eyes
Sunday, September 13, 2009
A CULTURAL HISTORY OF MALAY FILMS
The history of the Malay industry is a history of film art the dissemination of Malay Culture, especially a close link and certain similarities of Malay/Indian culture. In its early years, the making of Malay film is more business oriented, rather than a cultural inclinations, thus the Indian takes a pioneer status in creating a Malay film industry, but it’s growth and development in later years, make it a multiracial endeavor, the Chinese provided the money as producers, distributors and exhibitors, the Indians provide the know how as directors and technicians, and the Malays provide rich talent as actors. Thus till the present day, history pushes Malay filmmaker to produce films where culture and commercial elements had to be blended. Malay activists stressed strongly film are not simply commercial enterprise. They are culture. In the case of Malay film, transition of culture from Indian to Malay is natural, but much more difficult, with Chinese culture. This heavy culture leaning saw and caused the production of the first Malay film "LAILA MAJNUN" (1933), a middle Eastern love story, with Islamic overtones, and naturally well accepted by the Malay movie going public, a platonic love story, pure in its presentation of thing, cultural and religion. "LAILA MAJNUN" produced by Bombay Chemical co, supplying projector earborns for theatres in Malaya, realized the potential profec of making Malay films, based on their observation of the tumultuous number of Malaysian as cinema fans, taking note of the easy availability of Hollywood, Indian and Chinese films, where as films in the Malay language is non existent. The success of "LAILA MAJNUN" through only screened in independent Theaters, prompted SHAW BROTHER to bring in film production equipments, and Chinese director to Singapore, to make Malay Films (1937), and between 1938 to the outbreak of World War II (1942), Shaw Brother produced 8 Malay films, "MUTIARA", "BERMADU", "HANCHOR HATT", "TOPENG SHAITAN", "IBU TIRI", "TERANG BULAN DI MALAYA", "TIGA KEKASIH", and "MATA HANTU", at the box office they never met roaring success, the Malay patrons seem to reject the idea content of the film adapted directly from Chinese films, presents things not in tandem with Malay art and culture. The Japanese occupation (1942) scuttled the budding film industry, through their film department EIGA HAKIYU SHA, there is the invisibility of encouragement to produce Malay films, but also Hollywood films are banned from screening at the cinemas, the theaters were forced to screen Japanese films with blatant propaganda contents to promote "South East Asia Coprosperity Sphere", as in films "SINGAPORE SOKOGEKI", "SHINA NO YORU" and "MARAI NO TORA". Documentary films were in plenty, newsreel featuring the victorious Japanese against the allied armies, and clipping of films encouraging the adaptation and the adaptation of Japanese culture, such as Bushido and others. To counter the deep seated Japanese propagation of their culture, a Malay film was produced by a local Indian businessman after the war, CHISTY who floated a company, Malaya Art Production and produced its only Malay film "SERUAN MERDEKA" or "FREEDOM CALL", a dramatic story of an underground movement to fight faeism, the first film of Sino Malay characteristic, a Malay and a Chinese youth lead the underground movement. A Sino Malay content in Malay films are rare indeed, the Malay demands that Malay films should have total Malay contents, but in later years with the growing call of racial unity, to fight for "MERDEKA", a number films of these nature came into production, among others "SELAMAT TINGGAL KEKASIHKU" (1955), directed by L. Krishnan, "GERIMIS" (1968) by the evergreen P. Ramlee, claimed by Malaysia and Singapore as their very own, and the award winning "TSU FEH-SOFIA" directed by Rahim Razali, and the widening of these multicultural visions will see more films dealing with multicultural characters, but with Malay culture as the basic point, the latest film being "MOON SECRET AFFAIR" by the noted woman director SHUHAIMI BABA. Through a well made film directed by B.S. Rajhans, who directed the first Malay film "LAILA MAJNUN", and considered as the doyen among Indian film directors directing Malay films, the monopoly history of cinema trade of that period were controlled and manipulated by the entertainment giants, Shaw Brothers and Cathay Organization, who practiced a close door policy of screening of films, not made by their own studios, caused "SERUAN MERDEKA", to be screened sparsely, thus not many people knew of its existence. Films directed by Rajhans are well received by the Malays, the idea content does not offense the Malays, who are defiant in defending their culture, and give a new perception to Shaw Brothers, that Malay films should be directed by Indian film directors, whose cultures have became part and parcel of Malay culture especially in films of that period mostly dealing with domestic life. Mothers and wives being "the goddess" of the family which run parallel with Malay family life. The success and the imprint left by B.S. Rajhans, caused the influx of Indian film directors, in the period between 1947 to 1962, Shaw Brothers employed no less than 9 Indian film directors, among them B.S. Rajhans, S. Ramanathan, L. Krishnan, K.M. Bashker, B.N. Rao, V. Grimaji, K.R.S. Shastry, and Phani Majumdar, Diresh Gosh and Kidar Sharma. Through they directed no less 70 films certainly they no attempt to "Indianise" Malays films, even if most the films are freely "adapted" from English, Chinese, Indian, especially Tamil films, the opposite is a truism, the "Malaynised" of these foreign films, in terms of to "change" foreign cultures and ways of life into indigenous cultures easily accepted by Malay patronage, but the existence of certain "adapted" Malay films, were a translation or carbon copies of these foreign films, intact in its "spirit and culture" some of which very sensitive in nature, causing grave concern and offense to the Malays. The fifties were a nationalistic era, the freedom generation, the puritan cultural generation, and with their vocal demand that Malay film should be directed by Malays, spearheading this is the Singapore Malay Journalist Association who sees the enroachment of foreign culture and misrepresentation of native culture via "adapted" films by Indian director. Taking into account that true representation of local culture is an integral and necessary by the local film industry, this Shaw Brothers heed the demand, and appointed a former Assistant Director, Haji Mahdi a full pledged director, with his maiden effort "PERMATA DIPERLIMBAHAN" (1952), it was badly made, and its "business taking", dismal. This served as a pretext that Malay cannot master a western technological art, but the demand for Malays to direct Malay films were never put to rest, as a matter of fact the demand became more vocal, with growing support from cultural bodies. The call of history cannot be ignored or buried it is momentous period, and grow in momentum, the demand almost took a political shape, due to its nationalistic nature. P. Ramlee was asked to direct "PENARIK BECHA" (1955) and S. Roomai Noor to direct "ADAM" (1956). Ramlee’s first directorial assignment was a historical success, beating the collection of all past Malay films, with the exception of "BAWANG PUTEH BAWANG MERAH" (1959). The failure of Haji Mahadi as a film director created doubts of the credibility of more Malays to direct Malay film the growing nationalistic resolute demand cannot be ignored, Shaw choose a cultural ploy by bringing in Manila film makers whose Tagalog language has a close linkage with Malay language, but poles apart culturally. Malay film Production brought in same top and award winning names Filipino film directors to direct the their "BAHASA MELAYU" films among them Eddy Infante (1954), Ramon Estella (1957), who directed 11 Malay films, T.C. Santo, Rolf Boyes, B. Avellana (1958) who directed the first Malay war film "Sergeant Hassan". These directors were Hollywood oriented; thus their screenplays tend to be remake Hollywood films replete with western cultures. They too were swept away by the current demand of national culture. The Nationally revered P. Ramlee is the saviour of Malay film directors confidence grew among the Chinese producers that Malay culturally motivated films should be directed by Malays. With the advent of new Malay film directors, there is a tendency to go back to their root cultures, that is their films used folk tales and history as their screenplay. Jamil Sulung with "BATU BELAH BATU BERTANGKUP" (1959) and "LANCHANG KUNING" (1961). The fifties is regarded the "golden age" of Malay films, new Malay director discovered, the return to Malay spirit with the filming of folklore and legends, and the huge crowd patronizing Malay films, and Culture has become or profitable commodity. With the advent of television in the late sixties, and with agitation by the left wing unions SATU (SINGAPORE AMALGAMATED TRADE UNION), who controlled the work force of both studios, culminating is a strike at Malay film Production in 1957, and the declining box office revenues, forced Shaw Brothers close their studios in the late sixties, and Cathay Keris folowed two years later, and also spelled the domise of the studio system, and Malay film productions ceased in Singapore, and move to Kuala Lumpur in line with the spirit of Merdeka with the opening of Merdeka Studios in 1960, with their first film "TUN TEJAH" and to close in 1980, and was brought over by FINAS. The National Film Development Board set up in 1981, to develop the growth of the film industry. FINAS strong position has created a number of landmarks in the advancement of Malay films. In 1975, Deddy M. Borhan produced a color film "KELUARGA SI COMAT", and it’s success led to other Malays to produce Malay films, and thus begins the Era of the Bumiputra. Malaysian as present produced 10 to 15 films yearly, have their own film festival and will continue to grow with the leadership of FINAS, and the film associations.
taken from ; http://www.geocities.com/seapavaa/whatsnew/malay.html
According to the information from the website, the Malay films have been produced for almost 80 years. The Malay films used Malay language as the medium and were telling people about the Malay stories. The story lines were almost the same for every film produced and had very simple usage of language in their dialogues. Besides that, the setting of the movies was basically very simple and did not use much of the high technology as the films nowadays are. The Malay films now have improved a lot in many aspects, especially in the production fields. This improvement has made our film industry becoming more excellent in various ways and can even compete with the other countries in terms of the quality of the films produced. However, some of the directors and producers are against the etiquettes of producing the Malay films and also have gone beyond the limit. This causes people to criticize their piece of art work. The criticisms are sometimes positive but could be negative too.
1.1.RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1.To compare the Malay films before and now.
2.To identify the pros and cons of the Malay films before and now.
3.To find out the ways to improve the quality of the Malay films.
1.2.RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.What are the differences between the Malay films before and now?
2.What are the pros and cons of the development of our films industry?
3.What are the solutions to improve the quality of the Malay films?
2.0 COMPARISON
The Malay films before and now differ in various ways. Some might think the classic Malay films are much better than the modern Malay films. But some might not agree and think that the modern Malay films are better than the classic Malay films.
2.1.THE MALAY FILMS BEFORE…
The main features of the Malay films back then were the elements of the stories such as language, culture, and characters. The usage of the language especially shows the ‘Bangsawan’ style with rhythmic structure. The Malay language was used as the medium in all the Malay films and it often told us about the Malay stories. Before our film industry developed, the quality of the films produced depends totally on the actor and actresses, how they played their roles in every scene. Apart from that, the moral values of the story that are being conveyed are also part of the important element in the films. For instance, the films that were produced during the time when the late P.Ramlee was still alive. All the films reflected how the Malay language, cultures and characters were. The films also give us the images of the lives of the people in the past generations. Furthermore, the films also provide us with so many moral values that should be followed by the youth of our generation. The way the messages were conveyed was simple but yet meaningful. Although the films were simple and did not use any modern technology to make it more interesting, but the story lines were great enough to make people enjoy the stories.
2.2.THE MALAY FILMS NOW..
The main features of the Malay films nowadays were much more than the Malay films back then. But in most films, the elements of the stories are still the same but differ according to the creativity of the directors. The focus of the films now is not only on the Malays but other races too such as Chinese and also Indians. Other than that, the Malay films nowadays have improved so much in the term of the technology used in producing a film. The directors have learned a lot from other well-developed countries on making a film with high qualities such as the graphic effects and others. Even the actor and actresses seem perfect in the movie with the help of modern technology that can make a movie much more interesting. The only thing is lacking in our films nowadays are the moral values of the stories. The responsible authorities ignore the religious concern about some of the thing that should not be done by the Muslims. The costumes and the attitudes shown in the twenty-first century’s films affect the minds of the youth of our generation. For example, the films ‘Sepet’ by the late Yasmin Ahmad was once become the controversy because of the characters. However, the film actually tells us the reality of our lives. If being analyzed from the positive point of view, the film ‘Sepet’ contains a lot of moral values that should be followed by the audience. Another example was the film ‘Cicakman’ directed by the young and talented film director, Yusry Abdul Halim or well known as Yusry KRU. This film has impressed the Malaysian because of the technology and equipments used to make the story more interesting. This movie also was a success and something that we can be proud of because it was directed by a Malaysian. This implies that our film industry is developing and becoming outstanding among other countries.
3.0.THE EFFECTS OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE FILM INDUSTRY
3.1.ADVANTAGES;
·In most cases, the films fulfill the audience needs and they are very satisfied with the films in terms of the story lines and also the quality of the films.
·Some of the audience can interpret positively the message and moral values of the stories they watched.
·The story lines make us think out of the box and be more creative and innovative.
·Contributes a lot to our country’s film industry because high quality films are being exported to the other countries.
·Our film industry can produce more interesting films with the same level as the other countries.
3.2.DISADVANTAGES;
·Some of the stories exposed too much western culture which is not suitable for our community.
·Some films show bad examples to the youth in terms of the costumes and also attitudes which can influence the youths’ mind.
·The words used in some of the stories are not suitable as they are using harsh words (profane language). This should not happen because such thing will cause people to be influenced.
·Some scenes in the films are too much and can give bad examples to the teenagers as they are easily influenced by what they watch in the television.
4.0. STRATEGIES TOWARDS SOLUTION
·The government should make the rules of producing films that are not suitable to be watched by every level of age more strict.
·The responsible authorities such as the film producer should be aware of the etiquette of making films and not to go beyond the limit.
·The new producedfilms should be filtered thoroughly before being promoted to the society.
5.0. CONCLUSION
The issues and problems of the film industry are constantly changing over a period of time and as long as there are efforts to improve the making and content of local films, our film industry will keep to develop and becoming more outstanding than the other countries.
However, the eastern values should be forgotten and we should not be proud of what not belong to us by taking western cultures into our daily lives. Instead, be proud of what we own. We should also try to be extraordinary in order to be at the same level with the other countries in the film industry specifically.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 – The information communication and culture ministry will not pay compensation to local film or drama production companies which had shot scenes featuring illegal racing or “Mat Rempit” for their movies.
Deputy minister Senator Heng Seai Kie said this was neither the ministry’s responsibility nor under its jurisdiction.
“The ‘mat rempit’ or illegal racing culture must not be encouraged because it would destroy the people’s morals and values,” he told reporters after launching the Fifth Digital Library Conference and the National Central Catalogue here today.
He said this when asked to comment on a news report yesterday that the government would ban local films or dramas which depicted illegal racing and mat rempit scenes.
Yesterday, the minister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, when commenting on the matter, said there were no rules or guidelines by the government to ban such films or dramas in the country, although the government was committed to fighting such activities.
On social ills derived from entertainment centres such as gay clubs or clubs that offer the services of guest relations officers (GRO), Heng said the ministry disagreed with the trend.
“I believe the ministry’s responsibility is to restrict these activities through television and radio, and also to increase awareness on how unhealthy this culture is,” he said.
Yesterday, the police raided a gay club in an operation at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. In the 1.30am operation, police found more than 500 patrons in the nightspot, mostly men, who were engaged in erotic dance. - Bernama
