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'Jagat' won't join FFM28 boycott over language segregation
Published:  Aug 8, 2016 11:15 AM
Updated: 5:54 AM

The 'Jagat' team will not join the boycott initiated by industry players to protest the segregation of films according to language in the 28th Festival Filem Malaysia.

Films like 'Jagat', which is mostly in Tamil, were disqualified from winning the Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Director categories because the film's script is not in Bahasa Malaysia.

Jagat executive producer Sivanantham Perianan and director Shanjhey Kumar Perumal said that the movie will continue to contest in the nine categories it had been nominated for.

"We want to record our highest gratitude to our friends Alfie Palermo (Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Screenwriters Association), Al-Jafree Md Yusop (Komuniti Filem Titiwangsa), Afdlin Shauki (actor/director, photo) and Md Noor Kassim (cinematographer) for expressing their stand in the interest of improving FFM.

"They have stated their stand in the media and declared a boycott from participating in FFM28. We believe that this is among the strategy that could contribute to introducing further improvements in organisation of the festival," Sivanantham  and Shanjhey said in a statement.

They said they would take a different strategy - to engage in dialogues with stakeholders involved in organising the festival.

The boycott was initiated in response FFM'S controversial decision this year to segregate the Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay into Bahasa Malaysia and non-Bahasa Malaysia films.

According to the duo, FFM’s decision must be reviewed if it was only made by a certain committee, instead of a written requirement under the National Film Development Corporation Act 1981 (Act 244) that Bahasa Malaysia must be the main medium used to make films nominated for the awards.

“There is no exact definition (under the Act) of what constitutes a National Film or a Malaysian Film.

“If the issue does not involve the Act but rather regulations introduced by a certain committee set-up to organise the FFM, we would like to refer to the regulations as stated in the festival’s nomination form,” said the duo, adding that there was similarly no written requirement for a film to be shot in mostly Bahasa Malaysia.

There are two new categories introduced this year for films which did not use at least 70 per cent of Bahasa Malaysia dialogues - Best Screenplay and Best Director.

The Best Movie not in Bahasa Malaysia category, meanwhile, was first introduced in 2011.

Afdlin iniated the boycott while Best Cinematographer nominee Md Noor announced he is withdrawing in protest.

The Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM) said the segregation is to encourage the use of Bahasa Malaysia.

Cabinet ministers Dr S Subramaniam and Abdul Rahman Dahlan urged the segregation be removed

Co-organiser National Film Development Corporation (Finas) will meet Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak on the matter and is scheduled to hold an industry dialogue tonight.

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