Malaysian Reel Time Down Under
Mustakim says there is great support for Malaysian films in Melbourne.
The best of Malaysian films were served up to an Aussie crowd recently.
JESSICA LIM was there.
Melbournebased Malaysian band Patterns for Paper.
THE two subjects are so different but this year’s Australian Malaysian Film Festival and human bullet Usain Bolt had a thing or two in common.
Both Bolt and the festival were previously relatively unknown. Audiences for both didn’t expect such a good performance, and both weren’t affected by the weather.
The sweltering sun in Beijing did not stop the Jamaican sprinter from burning up the track, and neither did the blistering cold in Melbourne discourage a bunch of ladies from donning semi-transparent, billowy batik dresses.
It was the festival’s second foray into Melbourne’s cityscape, and the batik ensemble was just one of many new Malaysian flavours that were introduced this time around.
The festival was held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image cinemas, located in Melbourne’s prestigious Federation Square on Aug 15-18. It grew from three films to five, two days to four, and broadened to include a filmmakers forum.
The VIP list grew more impressive and viewership expanded to involve three school groups.
Heading the Malaysian delegation was National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) director-general Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim. He had in tow nine of Malaysia’s film luminaries, including Hans Isaac, Norman from KRU, Nanu Baharuddin and Pierre Andre.
Last year’s festival saw only two representatives from Malaysia’s film industry - Ramli Hassan and Dale Majid.
“It is early days yet, but we can see that there is great support for Malaysian films in Melbourne,” said Mahyidin at the launch. It was a predominantly Malaysian crowd at the launch with a liberal sprinkling of mat salleh.
“What you will see tonight is the best we have. I am sure you’ll be surprised by how much you enjoy it.”
Mahyidin was referring to Sepi, which won Best Film at the 2007 Malaysia Film Festival.
Organisers concocted an interesting mix of films this year. Besides Sepi, they also dished out horror films Congkak and Waris Jari Hantu, patriotic comedy Cuci and romantic fantasy Duyung.
The launch itself was pretty unique, with Peranakan singing and traditional dances appearing alongside an acoustic performance by Melbourne-based Malaysian band Patterns for Paper and a phenomenal beatbox presentation by a 17-year-old Malaysian boy called Shazet.
Shazet, replete with skate shoes and pants five sizes too big, won the Melbourne Beatbox 2008 championships recently.
“Winning the Melbourne championship was great. Now Melbourne knows that Malaysians can beatbox,” he said.
A highlight of the launch was the signing of a memorandum between Australia’s A2K Media and Malaysia’s Lineclear Motion Pictures to co-produce a full-length feature film.
The muscle behind the film are A2K’s Ade Djajamihardja, who also organised the festival, and Lineclear’s Abdul Latiff Mohaideen. The script is being developed, and the duo is looking at shooting by mid next year.
Ade revealed a snippet of the plot. The story revolves around a bunch of Aussie soldiers camped out in a Kuantan airbase in the mid-1940s.
“The film will be about bravery and heroism. It’s about ‘mateship’.”
He added that they already had a working title - Between Two Skies.
University of Melbourne head of film and television Professor Ian Lang said, “You may be wondering why we haven’t yet seen a Malaysian-Australian co-production. The answer is simple. We need a platform like this to start from.
“This Malaysian-Australian exchange is a classic example of embryonic co-operation which starts from the grassroots upwards.”
The excitement of this year’s festival has yet to die down, but Ade and co-organiser Kate Stephens are already making plans for next year.
This year, they had contemporary batik label iNNai and batik artist Emilia Tan put up a simple exhibition. Next year, they’re envisioning a Milan-style batik catwalk.
Their inspiration is the oodles of positive feedback they get from people who come for the festivals, love it, and look forward to next year’s instalment.
“We are very, very happy with the response after the festivals each year. That’s what drives us,” said Stephens.
“There are few things in life more rewarding than creating something from nothing and making it significant.”
New Straits Times