Image: Festival Filem Malaysia
THE government-sponsored Malaysian Film Festival, a key industry event, entered its 32nd year in 2022. But during the last decade, the festival has become just another version of popularity awards shows in the manner of Anugerah Skrin, Anugerah Bintang Popular and Anugerah ERA. Consequently, the FFM (from its Malay name, Festival Filem Malaysia) lacks a branding identity.
Since its inception in 1980 as organised by the Malaysian Entertainment Journalist Association (EJA), the festival seems to have followed Hollywood’s Oscars (Academy Awards) model by granting awards to outstanding films and individual artists and technicians. In this respect, the festival should clarify whether it wants to be an Oscars-style awards ceremony or a film festival.
If the organisers want the FFM function like an actual film festival, then the awards ceremony element should be downplayed, which was precisely what the National Film Development Corp of Malaysia (Finas) did when the agency took over the festival from EJA in 1982. Then Finas director-general Ismail Zain attempted to change the event’s emphasis by highlighting programmes like film seminars and cutting back on the awards component.
After Ismail stepped down in 1985, the FFM straddled the Oscars-style awards ceremony and film festival concept. Programmed events such as forums, seminars, workshops, screenings and exhibitions were included, albeit inconsistently and sporadically, along with several days of activities that culminated in the award-giving ceremony.
Rather than reorganising the FFM, Finas, with assistance and support, should appoint an independent body or organisation to run the festival. The selected organisation should have the authority to name the festival’s director and curators and ensure that the FFM is consistent in terms of format and time, while offering film-related programmes such as screenings and talks.
Over the last two decades, the FFM has not been well-promoted, which has affected the public’s and movie fans’ support. Promotion for the FFM should be ongoing throughout the year and not done for a month or two weeks before the festival takes place. The promotion and pre-festival activities should not be confined to a single type of venue like shopping malls; the organisers should consider a wide range of locales running the gamut from university campuses and schools to small town and kampung community centres. Among the main pre-festival activities should be film screenings and discussions to help develop film literacy and appreciation among the general public.
The FFM should be a marketing showcase where Malaysian films are professionally screened and promoted. Until now, film screenings have not been the festival’s main agenda – the occasional screenings have been somewhat haphazardly organised.
It defeats the purpose of having the FFM if it fails to develop a film culture among Malaysians and expose the public to locally-made films. The FFM could be the platform through which love for Malaysian cinema – and even cinema in general – could be instilled and nurtured. The festival should highlight and promote films – not just stars and celebrities.
In addition to screening the films in competition, the festival should also showcase black-and-white classics of the golden age, past FFM winners, independent films, animated films, documentaries, short films, and films with specific themes and tropes. For example, a retrospective of influential Malaysian directors such as Hussain Haniff, M. Amin, Jamil Sulong, L. Krishnan, Rahim Razali, U-Wei Haji Saari, and Yasmin Ahmad could become an integral part of the festival’s offerings.
If the organiser wants to maintain the method of selecting winners through a committee or panel jury rather than a voting system like the Oscars uses, jury members should join the audience to view films in competition while forming their critical opinions of them. During the award ceremony, the jury members should be introduced and welcomed onto the stage while the chair delivers the summary report. Subsequently, the report should be published in the media, as used to be the practice in the 1980s and 1990s.
The FFM should be made relevant not only to film industry personnel but also to the broader public so that cinema can emerge as a part of Malaysia’s public culture. One of the main ways to propel Malaysian cinema forward is to develop and educate audiences. In the long run, the growth of discerning audiences may dictate the standard of films we get.
I hope that the FFM will come to be regarded as a benchmark of meritorious achievement of Malaysian cinema and an emblem of cultural life. Knowledge, insight and the exchange of ideas should become the festival’s primary focus, rather than glamour, red carpets and award-giving.
A rebranding of the FFM is long overdue.
NORMAN YUSOFF
Senior lecturer
College of Creative Arts
Universiti Teknologi Mara (Selangor)
