KUALA LUMPUR – The National Film Development Corporation’s (Finas) rejection of Angel of Sandakan is a missed opportunity for the country to reap benefits from a special treaty with the Australian government.
PETRA Media chief executive Datuk Afdlin Shauki Aksan said the proposed film on the Sandakan Death March was meant to be one of the first films under the co-production agreement between Malaysia and Australia, which was inked in 2019.
“The project literally involves Malaysia and Australia as the story is about Australian POWs (prisoners of war),” the award-winning actor, director, and producer told The Vibes.
The proposal for Angel of Sandakan as an entry into Malaysia’s Road to the Oscars project was endorsed by Finas, which even gave it a grant for script development.
Promise of better times
The bilateral agreement signed in Sydney on November 29, 2019, promised better times for the Malaysian film industry.
A Bernama report in 2019 quoted then communications and multimedia minister Gobind Singh Deo as saying that Malaysian productions would be seen as Australian productions to facilitate penetration of markets of other countries that have signed similar agreements with Australia.
He also pointed out that Australia had similar agreements with countries like Canada, China, Singapore, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.
“It will also enable close collaboration, which will help in raising the quantity and quality of co-productions between the two countries,” Gobind said.
“This is a good initiative because it will help the Malaysian creative industry in opening up more opportunities and new business spaces for our film industry players, (both) with Australia and other related countries in the future.”
The report also notes that the agreement was signed by then foreign minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, who now holds the communications and multimedia portfolio, and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne.
In a press release, Payne said the co-production agreements would secure foreign investment in Australian projects and facilitate a larger distribution network.
“This agreement will further strengthen bilateral relations between Australia and Malaysia and open up new markets for jointly developed Australia-Malaysia screen projects,” Payne said.
“It will stimulate industry, employment, technical development and cultural exchange between Australia and Malaysia.”
‘It would have been a national effort’
The project has been making headlines lately after Finas made a startling U-turn on funding Angel of Sandakan.
Afdlin had also noted that the proposal for Angel of Sandakan was well received by Finas when Datuk Kamil Othman served as its director-general and actor Datuk Hans Isaac was chief executive.
However, government funding for the movie was rejected recently, although the agency had provided initial funding for Afdlin’s production company Vision Works (now PETRA Vision Works) to lay the groundwork and commission Hollywood screenwriters for the script.
“Finas’ involvement in the film’s funding would have made it a national effort. This is why they were initially interested to get on board,” he said.
Current Finas chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid recently rejected the application, saying it “did not meet standards”. However, Afdlin believes the decision was politically motivated.
The decision to axe the film also comes after Afdlin joined PKR recently, the party that sacked Zakaria from his post as Bera division chief over graft allegations in November 2019.
Opposition leader and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the rejection of the movie was politically motivated, adding the reasons given were “shallow”.
“Although those responsible over Finas now are politicians, I am confident this issue would be seen and managed without political influence and tendencies,” Anwar said on Twitter.
Finas chief executive Ahmad Idham Nadzri has continued to keep mum on the issue, refusing to respond to multiple attempts to contact him. – The Vibes, May 17, 2021
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