Sitting in this hole in the wall i call a room in YOKOHAMA, with the tv blaring japanese commentary of a J league premiership match on one side and a baseball match playing on a field just outside my balcony, i think to myself....
"It is confirmed!...."
I (and i do believe, many of us are the same) don't know much about the world i live in.
Day in day out, i live in a world that is safe and familiar, thinking that i am the master of my sensibilities and the commander of my life path. Being here in Japan and being a part of the experts of the content industry seminar, i have learnt how small my goal is and how limited my vision is in the context of the world film market.
Our japanese counterparts are very much like us, except that they are in suits most of the time and their film and animation industry is a billion dollar industry . Although they have embraced many western sensibilities, they are to a large extent, still... ASIAN, wiith many inherent Asian values.
A warrior nation, not unlike Malaysia, who have learnt (the hard way) that to capture the world, war and violence is not the way. They now know that to be a leader and gain international respect, you have to beat the Goliaths of the world at their most prized and most championed playing field... the free market!...
or in my case, the global film market .
In the Global film industry, we all know that asians, as a people, have bought into the western value system after years of idolising Hollywood, so much so that many of us are actually practising it's subcultures and have rooted it deep into our consiousness. And here we say we want to champion our asian values to the world, but my question is, How do we fight or stop this seemingly unstoppable hollywood machine?, An industry which seem to have endlessly deep pockets to propogate and instigate almost anything.
Taking the japanese example, i think the only way we can beat them is by manipulating our diversely rich content ideas, this is because personally i think Hollywood has exhausted their content banks and are now churning CGI laden (excuse my French) crap!. Of late, they have been looking east, for ideas and this has become the best time for us to strike back due to their new found interest in our stories. BUT in order for us to be able to maximise our current leveraged position, we must be able to compete at their playing level. The Senarios, the anak mamis, the sembilus are all fine and great, for our film industry, but they would not be able to compete at the regional or world stage due to the localised nature of it's content. We need to come up with more brave and cutting edge content. We must maxime and embrace the richness of our socio and cultural heritage and display to the world, all of of the stories which make us who we are. MALAYSIANS. ASIANS.
In the context of Malaysia, IN ORDER TO DO THIS, we need to RELAX OUR CENSORSHIP LAWS. WE HAVE TO RELAX OUR CENSORSHIP LAWS. We must create a conducive environment for our 'karyawan' or artists to create content freely.
An example of this is while i was shooting BULI BALIK, i had to cut out a scene (at the last minute) because we had received a directive that we cannot show teachers in a bad light. The scene that was cut was a scene where the protagonist while in class screamed aloud when he was bullied by the antagonist. The teacher who had repeatedly warned his pupils not to make noise during his class had reacted in anger and threw the duster at the protagonist. Now, i am sure that many of us have experienced this at one point or another i our lives as this is a normal occurance at schools but to the powers that be, it is MENGHINA GURU-GURU or demeaning our teachers. My argument is, if it is demeaning to throw dusters at pupils, then showing the act in the film will further the cause and make people realise that they shouldn't be acting this way.
As is pointed out by my wife, we do not have stories of men raping and abusing children, but this situation is rampant in our society as is reported to us daily in the newspapers. Does one feel like going out to rape a child after watching a movie about a child being raped? If it does, then you need to go for an immideate check-up and commit yourself to the insane asylum straight away. These psychopaths who do what they do, are already sick individuals who will act based on their own set of warped sense of values and it has nothing to do with what happens in our cinemas.
Again i reiterate my point that recognising our problems, like our beloved Prime Minister did with his shakedown on the Malaysian cabinet (and UMNO for that matter) to address the issue of money politics and corruption, is a clear indication that we need to be more transparent in our daily dealings to be able to move forward as a nation and an excellent way to gain the people's trust at the same time.
Our prime minister's game plan as i see it is, RECOGNISE then ADDRESS. ADDRESS then FIX. FIX and then SOLVE.
This then backs my point on the relaxing of the censorship laws, as by our Prime Ministers example, we know that we cannot address a problem, if we do not recognise that there is a problem in the first place. He champions the cause of transparency so why shouldn't our cinema be able to reflect this?
I think it is high time for our Government (whom i respect and love very much for all that they have done for the country and the film industry specifically) to free our content creators to CREATE our own unique take on these content, that so far has always received a foreign point of view. This will help our industry to formulate a Malaysian style of storytelling, which will then help in our country's Image branding as the content industry will be able to represent BRAND MALAYSIA to the world.
In asia many film industries have managed to brand their style of film making to their respective countries and these style has even been cemented into the minds of our little ones. Everyone knows BRAND BOLLYWOOD, BRAND JAPAN (with it's Horror and Anime), BRAND HONGKONG (with it's Martial art and violent movies), BRAND KOREA (Action and Special Effects movies) and more recently BRAND THAILAND (with it's new and explosive young cinema which encompasses Action and Horror) and coming up BRAND INDONESIA (with it's also alternative and interesting young films which deals with teenage issues). So, where do we fit in, in this equation?
In accordance to the point above, i must again strongly point out that there cannot and must not be DOUBLE STANDARDS when dealing with local and international content. Our censorship disallows local filmmakers to show V,H,S (violence, horror and sex) but they allow foreign films to have these elements.
We cannot ask the Americans, the Thais, and the Japanese to stop making films with V,H,S because these are the core ingredients of their pop cinema, so what do we do? .... RELAX OUR CENSORSHIP LAWS so that we can present our own unique views and stories with V,H and even S in them. Let us claim back our local market share of film revenue from the Hollywood machine by doing content as good, if not better, as them. Like what has taken place in KOREA right now. A country, which in a span of just 5 years after the government had relaxed it's censorship laws and pumped in 160 million USD into their film industry, has gained a 60 percent market share over foreign films, including the Mega hollywood blockbusters. Being apart of this industry, i believe and know that we have excellent creators, with the capacity to create world class content and this would be a challenge that will see them rise to the higher echelons of film making.
Examples of countries which have made an impact on the world film market are nations which have freed themselselves from the boundries of excessive censorship. These countries include KOREA and THAILAND, two countries which have taken the international filmmaking fraternity by storm and even the hollywood machine is snapping up their content for international distribution. The Thai film industry also took off when the censorship board relaxed it's regulations saving but one major rule against showing the royal family in whatever form. Fair enough i say. The most important thing is for the government to give us something more to create with.
I emplore the government to TRUST that your people are now educated enough to tell right from wrong and trust that we can make the right choices in our lives.
RELAX THE CENSORSHIP LAWS. Suppression creates interest and interest breeds recalcitrance and recalcitrance invites piracy/truancy to reign supreme.
After my trip to Japan and my experiencing the inputs from all of the 14 Asian country content industry experts in this ASIAN CONTENT INDUSTRY SEMINAR, i KNOW now what i have to do with my career. My new mission in life. To help put MALAYSIA on the GLOBAL FILMMAKING map! A tall order but i believe an achieveable one.
But in order to achieve this, i do believe the filmmaking fraternity in Malaysia needs more than just funding assistance from the government, but more importantly, the government allowing us to make more explosive and provokable content. Then our tagline of 'FILEM MALAYSIA DALAM ERA GLOBALISASI' has some semblance of meaning to it. Then we will not have our own people saying, "i don't watch malay movies!" and hear a new chant in the future, "I love Malaysian cinema!"
Let us make the difference you want us to make on the international stage. We are ready to make the difference and i believe that your people will choose to embrace this change in a positive way. Let our content creators have the choice, Let the people have the choice and i am confident (based on the case study of other countries success stories) that you will not be dissapointed. What do you have to be afraid of gentlemen and ladies of the cabinet, WE HAVE CHOSEN YOU (the government) over and over again haven't we?
EMPOWER THE PEOPLE
Afdlin Shauki
37 comments:
hear! hear! well said, man. i like your quote: "Suppression creates interest and interest breeds recalcitrance and recalcitrance invites piracy/truancy to reign supreme." true that!
Aku rasa kau ada quality macam Robert Rodriguez.
I think it's more towards the question of pride and identity.I feel we Malaysians are still finding their 'substance' of Malaysia.But it's also lay in the hands of artistes to come up with 'intelligent' movies.But then again there ARE ppl who watch Sembilu,Anak Mami etc...ARghghghh makes me wanna change citizenship to Dutch.
Selamat Hari Raya to all!!
good stuff. tapi pasal censorship tu, aku rasa ramai malaysians belum ready to face the reality of life. bukan nak cakap apa la, banyak film melayu tak based on reality. hanya fantasy semata2. sebab melayu still ada perasaan malu. malu sebab benda2 tu memang berlaku. macam kau cakap pasal cikgu baling duster tu. macam kita yg been there, memang rasa benda tu kelakar la, sebab happened to us before. tetapi kalau cikgu2 yg tengok tu rasa terhina, silap la kot. diorang rasa malu, sebab memang mereka pernah berbuat demikian. melayu memang tak habis2 pasal malu ni. aku pun tak tau kenapa. nak malu, bertempat la sikit. or better, take it like some light sarcastic joke and everybody happy.but, you have to know that malaysia dont have a DEFINITE regulation or rules on freedom of speech, so, it is kinda bit of luxury in malaysia.
aa..kadg2 tu pelik coz citer luar lepas jer adegan x sepatutnya.. kalau m'sia nyer filem, isu mcm afdlin katakan, menghina guru, tak bleh dimasukkan, takut merosak imej guru. But these kind of things do happen.... biler terjadi, everybody got so jumpy.. x lama lps tu, sumer lupa biler ada isu lain risen.. mcm dulu biler ada isu budak 6 thn kena rape kat gelang patah. semua org marah, jumpy. then isu ragut, sampai ada peragut mati dibelasah, mangsa ada yg mati.
-mona-
Film is reproduce what happen in the real world but the problem is can we reproduce something which happen without need director and script ?
I think you've written a nice speech. Macam politician, even. But you see, no matter how much is said time and time again, unless you have a strong politician willing to fight for this cause (to relax the censorship ruling on VHS), I then think its just a wasted effort on everybody's part. But then again, if ramai karyawan2 yg bersatu and voice out this concern repeatedly, at least the power that be would take notice and hopefully, relax the ruling. However, there is also the worry that kalau karyawan2 fight against the power that be, takut nanti susah nak dpt sponsorship or financial assistance for the next project pulak. So, it is a delicate issue, one that has everyone biting their tongue in anticipation! Its your choice, really.
Film, yes, it does reflect some aspects of our society, but we must all remember that film is a CONSTRUCT, it is not real. Firstly it is just images on celluloid, and secondly, on a deeper level, it is a highly sophisticated craft which heightens reality and dramatises it. You know that great action feeling you get when you watch a guy get out of a car in slo-mo with his coat tails flowing around him, the camera flying in circles, and guns appearing out of his sleeves, ala chow yun fatt? Well, real gansters wear singlets and thongs. It is the magic of film which makes it cool.
Why do I say this?
We must all recognise that if people assume crimes, bad attitudes and bad behaviour are perpetrated by people who have seen those elements in a film somewhere, we are ignoring the fact that everybody knows films are made up. Like Afdlin says, those perpetrators already had a screw loose. They were just looking for an excuse or an example. You and I, normal people who have some control over our base impulses, know that murder is wrong, bullying is wrong, etc, and we exercise our conscience.
So total censorship implies that we the people can't be trusted to control ourselves, that we do not exercise our conscience, etc.
But all societies face some problem or other which is inherent in that society. The problem is not whether censorship does its job of keeping bad elements from the people. The problem is no one wants to address the problem. Acknowledge it.
For example, if a pilot realises his plane is going the wrong way, he needs to check his controls, maps, compass, etc, right? This is feedback. He can't see himself in perspective of the whole world because he is too small, so he can't tell which way is correct. We humans are like that. Sometimes we just can't tell if we are on course.
So we need feedback. Where do we get that from?
Family, society, culture.
Our family (if they really loved us) would tell us we are ignorantly or mistakenly doing something wrong so that we can get back on track. Our society condemns wrongful intent and action. Our culture shows us what the bad is, and what the good is or can be.
Film is a part of our culture, besides stories, songs, art, traditional crafts and dances, beliefs and superstitions. And what have we been doing to our culture for so long? Banning it, denying it.
I do not wish to insult anyone's beliefs, but the reality is that Malays existed long before Islam. How can we suddenly deny what went before? It is intrinsic to what makes the Malay person Malay. Sure, we can do away with superstition and ignorance. But trying to re-write history is a little short-sighted, and I do believe it has caused this dichotomy we call the modern Malay.
MAlaysia was born only forty-odd years ago, but Malaya, Malays... they were a warrior nation! Sorry, but I see very few warriors out there trying to fight any cause alongside the worthy leaders of our country. And lots of squabbling and petty politics - very un-Islamic though, right?
(I don't mean to attack one race only. I am kadazan and greek and have lived 10 years in australia- all three cultures suffer a similar tallpoppy syndrome. Believe me, this is not a racial problem - everybody in the world can lay claim to it.)
So why have I launched into this diatribe? The impetus should start with the people. If we are constantly trying to improve ourselves instead of making ourselves look better by bringing others down and pointing fingers, then we would truly be worthy of the trust we demand from others in our socity, in our world, and specifically, our leaders.
Why such a serious issue for me?
The purpose of a film is to entertain, cajole, suggest emotions, pull the heartstrings, make us forget, teach us about others, remind us of who we are and can be (the good, the bad and the ugly).
It has a similar purpose to paintings, songs, dances... it is just like any other artform. A way to look at ourselves and see where we have gone wrong, where we have improved, and where we are going - feedback.
It is not reality, reality happens outside the dark auditorium where people try to be quiet and watch light playing on a screen.
Surely we are a mature enough nation to know the difference? Surely anyone who sees a Western action horror flick with violence in the same cinema where they go to watch cinta cinta mat rempit remaja 4: perempuan menjerit knows that it's all fiction, even if based on a real story.
And, if we are mature enough as a society, then those duster-throwing teachers might just take a look at themselves and realise, if they had had feedback earlier, they might have found the strength of character to stop such maniacal and childish behaviour!
Oooooo, it makes me so mad! Why can't we all just laugh at ourselves? It's so much easier to acknolwedge a problem with laughter and good faith. Just like en.zainal said. We also show mature character if we react to criticism well (so save face lah, kan? hee hee)
Thanks for listening...
Christina Orow
christina@visionworks.com.my
Sorry, I was so in love with what I was saying, I totally forgot to say something equally important! Duh...
I meant to write: Go Afdlin! Someone who has realised he is a voice that people listen to, and is willing to stand by his convictions to use it for the better good! Yay!
Lovey, Christina
i love this piece you've written so much! It is a good whole analysis and comparison with the whole other Asian movies. We'll always support you!
Perhaps you could also publish this article in a wider circulation medium. It'll do a lot of good to many more Malaysian's brain.
i was very impressed with what you have done, now i am more impressed with your vision and determination.
I will say, go for it, i am sure the majority of the people in malaysia will support you.
I like the one about we are the one that elected the govenment, so, the govenment should trust our instint. cool.
yahs..i have to agree with cip and the others comments too..our censorship board need to be relaxed..paling koman pun biarlah setaraf dgn filem luar yg byk babak babak V,H, and S tuh..
byk sgt halangan, tapisan dan sewaktu dengannya akan membuatkan org makin lama makin fed up dan malas nk mencipta karya karya yg kreatif..cikgu baling duster pun nk tapis..tp kalo babak laki pukul bini, anak derhaka, tikam belakang dan lain lain tu bole plak lepas..
kalau macamni la, sampai bila pun industri kita x maju..balik balik citer sama je..takde kepelbagaian langsung
neway..selamat hari raya pada cip kodok dan juga rakan rakan kodok sekalian
I do agree with you on the censorship stand. It is ridiculous to have a censorship standards that is way dated in the 50s and do not reflect the Malaysian society at all.
There should be to a certain level of censorship to ensure there are no rampant abuses of the media to incite hatred or worse political instability.
However, the question would be who set the standards?? I always wonder why the government always appoints some stodgy/conservative old men who they themselves are out of touch of the real world.
Of course, their kids are not being abused by the teachers (things do happened). They send them abroad.
Nevertheless, the censorship is not merely used to protect the society. It is also to protect the government. Some politicians (they are the ones who set the level of censoring) thinks to expose negative elements of the society is like a direct attack on them in terms of policy or implementation. This kind of egoistic attitude has to go before any relaxation of the censorship could be done.
Until this kind of mentality cease to exist or decrease in the mind sets of the politicians, it would be difficult to asked for them to lower the level.
Nevertheless, I applaud your move towards making a more intellectual Malay movies. It means that there is still some hope for the local film industry. Some might think it is a meaningless entertainment. However with the onslaught of the movies from other cultures, movie making will play a more important role in conserving our culture and way of life. At least there is something for the Malaysians to identify with.
I will try to be more supportive of the local film industry. I have only watched 3 or 4 malay movies in the cinema in my life, and that is due to my best friend who I dubbed as the biggest supporter of the local film industry since she watched most of the malay movies at the cinemas. I hope the golden era of the malay movies would be resurrected soon.
All the best in your upcoming projects.
emmm pendapat aku ... element V and H boleh lah di masukkan .... but it must be garap dan di arah sebaik mungkin sebolehnya iya dapat menghasilkan atau menyampaikan msg kepada penonton jgn berbuat seperti itu .... it would be a challenge to film maker and director ... i order to put the V and H element they have to think .... har har har har har har ... let say scene rape ... do let the viewer think that rape giving u a great plesure ... but let them feel the feeling that the person being rape feel ... let them think what if their children , brother or sister being rape ... in the same time teach them how to prevent ... is melalut laks aku ...
and the S element i think malaysian still not ready for it lar ... but still there is maybe a creative way in order to direct a film with S element right ...
as it for the goverment ... i thing karyawan2 sekalian have to propose this to the goverment ... REST the cencorship board for a while ... not totally shut the board down ... how they sensor the film it should be reconsider lar ... kan tak pasal pasal kang ada porn Malaysia out in the cinema laks kan ... har har har har har har ... u never know people will do anything to make money kan ...
so all the karyawan should propose the V, H and S element that can be put in a film i such a way it can educate the viewer ...
hujah yang hebat dan bernas. sokong!
sama mcm dlm lecture class aku je. yeah..i mean to what extend that the V, H, S movies can create chaotic situation in our society. the LPF memang patut relax skit la..and be realistic on the country situation.
you've hit the right spot. hope they'll understand & do sumthing...
i totally agree with you. We have seen how creative our minds can be (just watch all those short films, some of the music videos, and even animations), but the restrictive nature of our entertainment industry have made thing went from bad to worst.
but i also think having less censorship alone can help.
actually to make a good movie we don't need any of the V and H, moreover S. A good movie lies in its content and presentation.but it helps to sometime have a little of these elements just to tell the story more visually.
nowadays, viewers dig reasoning. reasoning makes the story more believeable, which malaysian movies always lack.things look better in the TV drama side, since many chose existing material to start with, so viewers can easily relate to.
that's why (i think) we don't have many sci-fi movies, or even fantasy ones.these kinds needs all kind of reasoning and explanations just to make it believable.yes, a film is a construct.but also a construct based on something.be it metaphorical, direct meaning or hopes and dreams.it need to have an essence, something for the viewers to take back after an hour an a half in the cinema.a good film should make the viewer realise,learn,and/or feel what you try to say.am i right?
if a movie only based on V.H.S,it will be entertaining, but senseless.that, we have managed to do so successfully.but how many malaysian movie is both entertaining and enlightening? boleh dikira dengan ibu jari kaki kiri(actually a joke).
alas, when there's somebody willing to make this kind of movie, we, the viewer mostly cannot accept this paradigm shift. we are conditioned by simplistic, linear story.i can't imagine yet any malaysian movie that follows nonlinear directing like the film 'Memento' or 'A Tale Of Two Sisters' become a blockbuster.bro, Kelibat have some extensive reasoning/explanation scenes in it...any comments from teh viewers?can they accept it?
bro,some sincere questions: if the government relaxes the censorship board,can you change the Malaysian viewer's mindset to be more open?what then, would be our film's identity?which identity whould you choose to be Malaysians?
of all mainstream directors, i think you can be the one paving the path to a new mindset.your works differs from others, and you are not afraid to experiment.heck, you didn't get the Anugerah Pengarah Harapan (hope i get that one right) for nothing.lead the way, afdlin.you now have the resource, will and the mindset needed to do this, go for it!we'll back you up...
with great movies comes great responsibilities.
p/s:why is it i'm hearing afdlin shauki's name much-much more often nowadays?is it a sign for days to come?
Lizzam, we don't have to do movies with vhs if our story doesn't require it. I mean, even If the censorship is relaxed , if you wanted to do a simple family story or whatever, go ahead it is your right.
My issue lies in our right to be able to create with more freedom, an essential process of creation that we are not privvy to. VHS is not just the only consideration, other things which kononnya not reflective of orang melayu (macam iklan LRT Adlin yang cuba diban, scene anak beranak sikat rambut kat tangga in Sepet dan lain-lain), not reflective of the police, not reflective of whatever... this are also the things which hinder our development.
People always say apasal cerita melayu semua sama aje and at one point i actually asked the same question too but after being in the industry i realise that because of the censorship issue, everyone plays safe so they can cari makan and many creators cannot tell the amazing stories that they want too. Everytime somebody wants to do something different they run into a brickwall known as the censorship board.
Then the government asks us why aren't we making more exciting stories and bring our movies to the international stage.... HOW TO DO THAT WITH OUR CURRENT CONTENT. Throw us a bone, RELAX THE CENSORSHIP and then see wether we rock or not.
If the censorship is relaxed and still our movies are like the one that used to be made before, then it would be fair to say that Malaysians are crap filmmakers, not before that.
i'd like to respond to some of your questions.
LIZZAM :
Q. bro,some sincere questions: if the government relaxes the censorship board,can you change the Malaysian viewer's mindset to be more open?
A. The human mind needs to be jolted sometimes for it to learn a particular lesson. If you had ever played with fire and had been burnt, you will remember never to play with fire again. People respond better to something that they experience then something that they are told. When you follow a protahonist's journey you are taking his place and are experiencing life thru him. So, if the journey that you go on in the cinemas are something which is something that you are not used to, then yes i believe it will change the Malaysian mindset. The most important thing is that we start doing it.
Q. what then, would be our film's identity?
A. We won't know until we have the opportunity to have the freedom to tell more diverse and interesting stories about ourselves.
Q. which identity whould you choose to be Malaysians?
A. If i choose than it wouldn't be a Malaysian identitiy right, the people's reception to the movies will decide.
thanks for your views. Much respect to you.
Afdlin
assalamualaikom..
Selamat berpuasa!...
Menarik Blog abg.Afdlin..
nanti kalau free bagi komen kat blog saya keh!..
huehueu~
abg.Afdlin Rock!...
Selamat Hari Raya!..
Hazman
oo98oo@yahoo.com
YO BRO ...
Teringat Kak Ogy introduce you, rashid dan Miss Bassey masa anugerah skrin 2003 ...kak ogy kata....
dia ni semua dah jadi ..pelakun, pelawak,pengarah, producer ..satu saje dia belum ..ahli politik. suka sunggah part tu! sekarang i ingat you memang ada bakat jadi ahli politik ! Personally rasa you memang lain lah pembawaknya dengan artis-artis lain..goood job bro ...and love your session with AF star dalam AF3 dulu ...
selamat hari raya ..maaf zahir batin
i think...we still need the censorship, but we have to loose it up a bit, maybe stage by stage..you know, government know the malay film industries suffering..But sure they cant just throw their ego away..and allow what they trust and hold onto for so long just like that..what will happen if the gov just let their guard down..jatuh air muka la dude..
i'm a fresh graduate and recently just got a job in this one of gov agencies..i did paperwork, research, work long hours, sleepless nite to bring out and to help built a new system for my dept and to be recognized. Which happen, was kind of too new to them and too hard for the old folks in my office to admit that my system is much more better and reliable than them. They thought it will bring more harm than good. C'mon..it's just a system..i can believe how resistant they can be.. And u cant believe how hard for me nowadays to wake up every morning to face them.
one of my senior asst dirct told me this is how the gov work..u have to spoon fed them but not to sweet, they'll get diabetes and not to salty, they'll get hi blood pressure. But just 'secukup-rasa', even so..they will bit be berjaga-jaga tapi slowly they swallow.. BUT how much is 'secukup-rasa'? we'll never know, and they never give out the rite formula either..we just have to R & D ourself...So, good luck then..and i'll always b ur no.1 fan..selamat menyambut eid-fitr!
afdlin. been following this blog for a while.. and i believe you rock, not just in my small world, the world of some many others. I believe you are an inspiration to so many people, looking from where you started off to where you are now. I dont know how far back you came from, but my first memory of you is you singing ikhlas tapi jauh with the RAP artists.. zainal, sheila and all. Then I always asked, when is your album ever coming out? the you sang aku lelaki at one of the award show, i so liked it, but still i waited no album. anyway, this is not the discussion for that.. i am so far off from what i planned to say in the first place.
Yeah, about the censorship board and how ppl react to it... about the teacher throwing the duster, yeah it happened.. a friend confessed to me herself. she threw a duster to a boy whom she had warned time and again but refused to listen. and true, a film is a relection of a society's culture and identity. and the hollywood is kekeringan idea... look how the try to make a remake of japanese, taiwanese movies... like shall we dance, the ring and so many more lah. we CAN be that. A source of content for others. and i really dont understand the horror part... remember the fuss that Aziz M Osman had to go thru with his fantasi movie? what was that? Respect the citizen that selected you (the govt). OUr intelligence. Logic : we cant watch it in Malay, why are we watching it in English Chinese and Japanese? Why these foreign movies make it to our scene? Because you think we wont relate it in our society? mistik was claimed to be cerita seram (pertama tanpa sbrg potongan/tapisan), which is so crap! and this is what the society wants? from a professor? my apology if anyone is insulted, by my intelligence too was insulted when i had to endure it when i was warded in a hospital masa raya!
so afdlin, yes, empower the people. Give some intelligence back to us. YOu've moved to such great heights and you're gonna get higher.
K.I.
One thing I have to say..
..if there's anyone that can put Malaysia in the global filmmaking map, it's you.
I believe we have a crop of talented filmmakers such as yourself, Amir Muhammad, Osman Ali, Ho Yuhang, Tan Chui Mui, Kit Ong or Yasmin Ahmad (just to name a few) that has already change the face of Malaysian cinema. I firmly believe that we have what it takes to galvanise and mesmerise the global moviegoers.
Judging by the response on this blog, I realize that there are a lot of people out there who are tired of the usual lame-profmadya-idiotic-crap-stories. We don't need movies that insult our intelligence. This has got to stop.
PAVE THE WAY, AFDLIN. It's now or never. Somebody got to do it. We believe it's YOU...
-edd-
I always believe that blogs are good to express your feelings towards some issues...Also I believe that "Action Speaks Louder than Words"! So apalagi Abg Afdlin! You are our saviour.. Please release us from these craps.. We need you and the rest like Yasmin Ahmad, Ho Yuhang, Amir Muhammad etc (to name a few) to revamp our film industry..
i agree with edd vedder.. We are tired of the usual-anak mamis; sembilus; senarios; and other mushy2 love stories ni.. Insulting my intelligence..
P/S: I find that the throwing duster scene is interesting..Sure ramai yg akan ketawa / tersengih bila teringat kembali zaman sekolah2 dulu... Been there, done that..what??!!
-Azleen-
Dude! Did you meet En. Kamil Othman from MDC? He was there to give a presentation right? and I heard you did too... Any chance some of that goodness coming online for us to see?
i think the real reason why many Malaysians are proud to say that they do not watch Malaysian movies is because most of malasian movies bagaikan tidak berpijak di bumi nyata, in other words, a tad poyo..
there are frequent times when i watched malaysian movies with my friends we would state stuffs such as:
"tipuuu!!! mana ader kiter cakap selamat malam jumpa lagi in real life!!!" or,
"waah poyo gillerr!!" or,
"seriusly.. aderker lecturer pakai mafla pegi mengajar??"
my point is.. kebanyakan filem kiter nih = poyo. sbb macam en. zainal ckplah sebab masyarakat malaysia still tebal sifat malunyer. tapi when we go to the movies biler malu tuh terlampau tebal kiter terasa tertipu sbb our own movies do not reflect our OWN IDENTITY.
seriusly, i think lam reramai org student malaysia nih.. 6 out of 10 pernah dibaling duster.. paling kurang kapur!!
i think what our filem need is realness .. seperti apa yg cuba many many our rising new aspired directors sedang lakukan.. keep up the good work!!
yes for this real identity to be portrayed, the censorship has to be relaxed utk membenarkan minda rakyat malaysia berubah. and with everyone is over concered with this V,H,S issue.. that is not the ONLY essence of our identity so rilek lerr.. takkan ler our creative directors nak put semata2 itu in our movies selepas the cencorship has been relaxed?? have faith in our own people i say!!
changes always provoke criticisms but that doesnt mean changes are bad.
usaha tangga kejayaan afdlin!!
with that i wish you.. selamat hari raya aidilfitri!!
tq bro, for answering.gee..its hard work.hope there will be that paradigm shift.we really need it.we're too pampered right now.right from this censorship thing to bigger stuff like the proton problem.
know what?i have a big problem, that has lead me here. i am proud to be Malaysian, but there's not much to be proud of.i need to have something to show when I say " I am a Malaysian, and this is a Malaysian Product".better still, when they tell me , "...we took this concept from a malaysian product...".
till that day comes...
it is just plain stupid. we elect , they rule and they say those who elect have no brain.
over the time when these generation are 6 feet under only then things will change. we are so protective of our culture and yet most of the time using it as a reason not to move forward.
government agencies must buck up! they are there to serve the people not wasting tax payer money.
Chief Kodok ! sori terlebih sensitip hari nie. but u look like budak sekolah lah pakai smart gi seminar he he he, jgn mare , selamat hari raya , that is if that is applicable lah kan...
my experience as an engineer, kitorang kalau design something, and then present something to the judges at any competition, we always have something we dont agree with the rulings and the way our design is judged.
But year in and year out, there are many designs and engineering work that go around the rulebook but still manage to stay within the means of the rulings. And some even came out with an even better idea whenever they came with an obstacle provided by the judges.
You filmmakers can learn a thing or two from us engineers. We accept any "censorships" as challenges for us to be better and to be more "open minded," and not the other way around.
Im not disagreeing that more freedom means more creativity, but the reality of it is, you wont get total freedom, not in filmmaking not in life. So, getting the censorship board to ease up a bit, wouldnt make much of a difference.
And i think, you can actually use the censorship to your advantage. Macam the iranian films where there is no touching between men and women. I think hollywood or the rest of the world are more interested nak tengok macamana producer film can make a film with those restrictions.
Mungkin scene baling pemadam tu dilihat sebagai menjatuhkan maruah guru, but maybe there's a way that filmmakers can do something yang at least menggambarkan something of that perbuatan.
In the engineering world, at least 80% of the best engineered things came from restrictions. Contoh like formula one car where the car used a fan to suck the car to the road. It was banned, which afterwards led to extensive aerodynamic work. Dari situ, we all dapat all those wings and winglet that you see nowadays. Less material, less moving parts, less electronics, and less cost.
Even kat malaysia pun, we have some of the best mind in engineering, tapi the reality is ... most of them, banyak education, tapi tak banyak applications. Whereas the filmmakers kat malaysia pulak, banyak application, tapi tak banyak education.
I guess what im trying to say is, prove what you're capable of within that restriction, and we'll let the public decide whether the censorship should ease up a bit or not.
Or what we all engineer say, " let the right part fits and not the other way around."
p/s: i lived in kampong before, tapi tak pernah pun tengok anak beranak duduk kat tangga sikat rambut sambil berkemban. Actually, ive never seen my family or my sedara mara, berkemban dalam rumah all the time like in Sepet. So i think that women berkemban dalam dan luar rumah is kind of an exegeration. Actually, i think 30% of the movie dalam sepet tu, tak melambangkan reality orang melayu. And most of my kampung or bandar frens agreed.
Webber
I support your goal "to help put MALAYSIA on the GLOBAL FILMMAKING map!" 100%
And if you want to lobby for our censorship laws to be more relaxed, I'll suport that one too.
Go Selambakodok!
siapa tu duduk kg tak pernah tgk org berkemban. tu mesti KAMPUNG PANDAN or KAMPUNG BARU or KAMPUNG MAJIDEE or semua lha KAMPUNG yg sebenarnya dalam kawasan bandar. Kalau kampung dalam kawasan luar bandar betul or felda or felcra or memang dekat dgn pendalaman betul , ada apa scene mcm tu. bukan nak bodek sepet or kodok for free ticket but kalau si webber tu tak pernah tgk org berkemban , rugi beb... wa dulu mandi sungai tiap tiap hari tgk org berkemban , bukan sekodeng tau , sah sah depan mata lagi....talak heran punnnnnnn... jgn mare ye , selamat hari raye ...
ps mau tgk wa berkemban aaahhh
pembuat filem ni bukan leh bagi muka sangat nanti dia melebih-lebih tu la perlu censorship. macam cerita seram mereka buat scene mayat keluar dari tanah kubur ke .. which is not nice. tapi kalau ketat sangat sampai dialog 'jual ganja tak kena lesen jual belacan kena ada lesen' dalam filem p. ramlee pon kena muted pon tak bagus juga.
Most of what Abg Afdlin said in his "musings" has been said time and again by many (myself included) at many forums.
How to make it heard rather than it falling on deaf ears all over again is the question.
ayuh malaysia seharusnya kita yang memulakan walaupun cerita kita tak setanding cerita luar tapi bg sokongan. Bila ada sokongan baru. org filem boleh lebih kreatif. moh ramai ramai serang panggung.
masa akan mengubah perjuangan anda akan tampak hasilnya mungkin bukan sekarang, b;eh jadi tahun depan, 10 tahun lagi mungkin.
yang penting pencetus, pemikir, anda dah memulakan membentuk untuk org diluar sana berfikir. TTG IDENTITI KITA. MALAYSIA supaya lebih telus.
Walau bagaimana pun pada saya filem kita ada perubahan jika dibandingkan 5 tahun dahulu. lebih ramai orang yang berminat untuk bikin filem pada masa sekarang.
masa akan mengubah keadaan cuma cepat atau lambat. tidak semua orang mempunyai fikiran yg terbuka. seperti langit diluar sana. ada yang masih bersikap dgn fikiran dahulu. zaman dan masa itu akan berlalu. cuma harus diingat. Biarlah ia ada batasan jgn nanti disebabkan sifat ketelusan dan kejujuran kita di tertawakan org lain.
be yourself !!! congrats !!
Aku tgk drama2 jepun yg takde scene2 keji best je. Cuba tgk dorama jepung summer snow, ataupun citer hotman (1 & 2). Yg penting bagi aku adalah non-stereotype. Cerita melayu asyik2 pasal latok kaya nak mampus dgn keluarga yg kucar-kacir. Manyak boring la.
Lepas tu scene nangis sampai nak kena zoom muka sorg2 2-3 minit. Haiya.
Ko punya movie aku bagi 3 bintang la cip kodok. 2 bintang tu hilang sbb byk sgt lawak spastik.
Kalau korang ingat cerita tookoo lakonan allahyarham Sudirman, bagi aku mmg masyuk abis. Salah satu cerita melayu yg aku tak jemu tgk, selain cerita2 P Ramlee.
Aku mmg pandai kritik je kan ? Anyway tu la pendapat aku. Semoga maju jaya cip.
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