Freedom Film Festival calls on Finas to press for reforms
Freedom Film Festival director Anna Har urged the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) to push for reforms to create a “safe space” for film screenings.
"The truth is we were under a lot of pressure when we wanted to screen this film," said Anna during the question-and-answer session of a film titled ‘The Tree Remembers’ which re-examined the origin of racism in Malaysia...
Freedom Film Festival director Anna Har urged the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) to push for reforms to create a “safe space” for film screenings.
"The truth is we were under a lot of pressure when we wanted to screen this film," said Anna during the question-and-answer session of a film titled ‘The Tree Remembers’ which re-examined the origin of racism in Malaysia and the taboo in discussing the racial riots of 1969.
This is a new film by Lau Kek Huat, a filmmaker who was born in Sitiawan, Perak, and now based in Taiwan. His previous documentary titled ‘Absent Without Leave’ is still banned from being screened in Malaysia.
The Freedom Film Festival (FFF) is an annual event for filmmakers to showcase their work and advocate a variety of causes to the public. The festival began in 2003.
This year, for the first time in 17 years, the board of directors from Finas officially attended the festival.
To a question from the audience about whether the ‘The Tree Remembers’ would be screened elsewhere other than at the festival, Finas chairperson Hans Issac said:
"We are looking for opportunities for all kinds of films, not just films like this, but for every film to get an opportunity to be screened.
"It is a process that we are going through and everyone is chasing us to make sure we get this done. We just asking for Malaysians to be patient, we have just cleaned up all our mess."
"Our initiative is to make sure everybody tells the story they want to tell. It's your right to tell your story," he stressed.
Responding to Hans, Har voiced out the painful reality of organising the festival and urged Finas to push for changes in the country’s oppressive laws to ensure a safe space for screenings.
"We are under a tremendous amount of pressure. The laws haven't changed… It's just that we have gotten braver.
"I just want to remind everybody that it will be just as difficult to show this film the second time. Worse, if it is out of KL. In KL, we have lawyers on standby. That is the reality we are working in.
"I'm glad that the (Finas) board of directors are here... I really hope Finas would support us, not monetary, but in terms of creating a safe space in Malaysia for screening and to discuss issues," said Har.
Restrictions on artistic freedom
Finas is a government agency parked under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, which was set up to help develop the country’s film industry.
The new board of directors and chairperson were appointed by its minister Gobind Singh Deo in April 2019 after Pakatan Harapan came to power. Har currently sits on Finas's board of advisors.
Meanwhile, the powerful Film Censorship Board (LPF), which vets all films, is under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Under Section 6(1) of the Film Censorship Act 2002, no one is allowed to “possess, circulate, exhibit, distribute, display, manufacture, produce, sell or hire any film that has not been licensed by the board”.
In 2017, human rights activist Lena Hendry was fined RM10,000 for screening a documentary on the Sri Lankan civil war which had not been approved by the censorship board.
The Freedom Film Festival is currently screening the latest award-winning films, highlighting the best of local, regional and international filmmakers, at the PJ Live Arts, Jaya One, Petaling Jaya. Today is the final day of the week-long festival.
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