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The History of Film & Cinema in Malaysia

 

Timeline:

  • 1933: First Malay Film- Laila Majnun

  • 5-6 Films before the Invasion of Japan

  • 1959: Tan Sri P. Ramlee
    - Pendekar Bujang Lapok
    - Introduced the concept of 1Malaysia (bringing Malay, Chinese and Indians together for one production

  • 1981: Establishment of The National Film Development Corporation (FINAS)
    - aimed at advancing and propelling the film industry by any means 
    - responsible for censorship issues

  • 1988: Industry face an identity crisis
    - mostly dominant Malay Film
    - lack of diversity

  • 2000s: The emergence of Indie Films
    - more controversial issues explored
    - focused on the concept of 1Malaysia
    - films such as Yasmin Ahmad's Rabun, Sepet, Gubra, Muallaf & Talentime

 

The film industry in Malaysia is an interesting industry to study due to the issues that are raised based on their strict censorship. The film industry is heavily supported by the government through financial and non-financial assistance (Rosnan & Aziz, 2012) so as to boost their standing in terms of films. The direct participation of the government in such matters have given them a commendable amount of power to control the industry such as the distribution as well as censorship. The main objectives of a film industry to a particular country is to encourage the preservation of culture (Rosnan & Aziz, 2012) and to foster national unity and identity (Shariff, Sualman & Adilrawan, 2013). Taking into account the main objectives of the film industry, we can say that the close supervision of the government may either play a positive or negative role. Research has shown that the Malaysian Film Industry has been dominantly malay ever since the establishment of FINAS in 1981. Looking at the demographics of Malay, this may not come as a surprise.

 

The idea of a 1Malaysia where every race is equal is juxtaposed by the laws that are imposed in Malaysia. The biggest issue in Malaysia is the idea of forcing "Islamisation" through the films that are being distributed (Rosnan & Aziz, 2012). The majority of people in Malaysia are Malays hence there seems to be certain privilidges that Malays enjoy. The Bumiputra act is one such example that openly shows that Malays are "superior". The practices and culture of Malaysia whereby Malays are given more privilidges have also influenced the film industry in terms of censorship. The government argues that censorship is introduced to "protect" the children from bad influence such as sex and violence. The Malaysian government controls the films in a way that oppresses the freedom of speech of Malaysian Directors.

 

Yasmin Ahmad's films are the epitome of how the film industry has been hindered by the government. Her films emphasis on the concept of 1Malaysia through portraying the different types of love that a human being experiences. Her films unintentionally tackles issues such as racism and biasness towards a "superior" race thus her battle with the censorship issues have actually forced her to release most of her movies in Singapore first before they are edited on the terms of the Malaysian government and then released in Malaysia. Despite being a film that emphasizes on 1Malaysia, Yasmin Ahmad's film are modern but do not ever compromise on the cultural landscape of Malaysia thus her films are interesting to critic. These issues will be addressed in the reflective essay tab. 

 

References

Rosnan, H. & Aziz, Z.D.A. (2012). Film Business in Malaysia: Challenges and Opportunities. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 12(2), pp.198-202

 

Shariff, S.Z.M, Sualman, I & Adilrawan, E.D. (2013). Fostering Unity among Malaysians: A Case Study on the Local Film Industry. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 10(3), pp.110-120

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