NATIONAL film awards ceremony Festival Filem Malaysia ke-28 (FFM28) received backlash from the industry today after unveiling its nominees.

Continuing to segregate films based on language, the ceremony was lambasted by writers association PENULIS (Persatuan Penulis Lakon Layar Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor) for creating “racist categories” and for assigning non-Malay films less worth despite claiming to represent the Malaysian film industry as a whole.

Mengapakah FINAS Malaysia mewujudkan kategori yang rasis seperti Filem Bukan Bahasa Melayu? Dimanakah FINAS Malaysia dalam memupuk semangat perpaduan dalam Sinema Malaysia? Dimanakah konsep 1Malaysia yang disarankan oleh kerajaan? Ini Festival Filem Malaysia, bukan Festival Filem Melayu! Sebagai penulis lakon layar professional, kami melihat pencalonan FFM makin memalukan Negara tahun demi tahun, dan dengan ini kami memohon agar FINAS Malaysia sebagai pengelola acara ini merombak semula mekanisme pencalonan serta penapisan pemilihan pencalonan untuk acara yang sepatuntya menjadi acara kemuncak industri filem Malaysia. — PENULIS, 3 August 2016

In its twenty-eight year, FFM has chosen to keep the Filem Terbaik Bukan Di Dalam Bahasa Melayu category even though award-winning actress and producer Erma Fatima called out its irrelevance on air from the Festival Filem Malaysia ke-27 stage.

In its latest revival, the category even houses Jagat and OlaBola, two of the year’s best-reviewed movies.

Jagat is the debut film by Shanjhey Kumar Perumal which received very strong reviews and lasted for up to ten weeks at selected cinemas. It starred a real-life orphan and grossed RM220,000 at the box office. OlaBola meanwhile was Chiu Keng Guan‘s highly-anticipated follow-up to The Journey which saturated mass media during a particular point of the year.

Both were expected to do exceptionally well in this year’s ceremony, but the segregation has taken members of the industry by surprise. This inexplicably leaves the Filem Terbaik category open for entries such as Mat Moto – Kami Mat Moto Bukan Mat Rempit and Munafik, two SKOP Production releases which grossed substantial money at the box office.

Fans on social media have labelled FFM28’s latest move as an example of hypocrisy and ignorance.

This year’s nominees were coincidentally put forward by PFM (Persatuan Penerbit Filem Malaysia), also led by SKOP Production honcho Yusof Haslam. It is understood that FINAS Director-General Kamil Othman was not involved in the nominations.

Check out the full nominees list below.

FILEM TERBAIK FFM28

NOTA

POLIS EVO

MUNAFIK

MAT MOTO – KAMI MAT MOTO BUKAN MAT REMPIT

JEJAK WARRIORS

FILEM TERBAIK BUKAN DI DALAM BAHASA MALAYSIA

OLA BOLA

MARAVAN

JAGAT

HUAT THE FISH

THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

PENGARAH TERBAIK FFM28

GHAZ ABU BAKAR / POLIS EVO

SAW TEONG HIN / JEJAK WARRIORS

SHAMYL OTHMAN / REMBAT

SYAMSUL YUSOF / MUNAFIK

WAN HASLIZA WAN ZAINUDDIN / LOVE SUPERMOON

PENGARAH TERBAIK (FILEM BUKAN DI DALAM BAHASA MALAYSIA)

CHIU KENG GUAN / OLA BOLA

JESS TEONG / THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

PUVANENDRAN SELVARAJA / MARAVAN

SHANJHEY KUMAR PERUMAL / JAGAT

YEE KWAN HUAH & SILVER / HUAT THE FISH

PENGARAH BAHARU TERBAIK

FEROZ KADER / SUAMIKU ENCIK PERFECT 10

PEKIN IBRAHIM / MAT MOTO – KAMI MAT MOTO BUKAN MAT REMPIT

SHANJHEY KUMAR PERUMAL / JAGAT

JESS TEONG / THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

DAVEN RAGHAVAN / CCTV

PELAKON WANITA TERBAIK

LISA SURIHANI / SUAMIKU ENCIK PERFECT

MAYA KARIN / NOTA

MAYA KARIN / JWANITA

NABILA HUDA / MUNAFIK

NADIYA NISAA / LOVE SUPERMOON

PELAKON BAHARU WANITA TERBAIK

FALISHA CROSLEY / MAT MOTO – KAMI MAT MOTO BUKAN MAT REMPIT

MARIANNE TAN / OLA BOLA

NUR RISTEENA / GIRLFRIEND KONTRAK

RAJA ILYA / SUAMIKU ENCIK PERFECT

ZARA ZYA / REMBAT

PELAKON LELAKI TERBAIK

AARON AZIZ / SUAMIKU ENCIK PERFECT

ANIU / REMBAT

PEKIN IBRAHIM / MAT MOTO – KAMI MAT MOTO BUKAN MAT REMPIT

SHAHEIZY SAM / POLIS EVO

ZIZAN RAZAK / POLIS EVO

PELAKON BAHARU LELAKI TERBAIK

ADAM SHAHZ / JUVANA 2 – TERPERANGKAP DALAM KEBEBASAN

CHE AMAR / CHOWRASTA

KEITH FOO / GIRLFRIEND KONTRAK

MAS KHAN / BIASAN

SARAN KUMAR / OLA BOLA

PELAKON PEMBANTU WANITA TERBAIK

ADELINE TSEN / GAMATISME

AMINAH RHAPOR / CHOWRASTA

ANNE NGASRI / LOVE SUPERMOON

CHRISTINA SUZANNE / JWANITA

FAUZIAH DATO’ AHMAD DAUD / LANGIT CINTA

PELAKON PEMBANTU LELAKI TERBAIK

RAMLI HASSAN / NOTA

AZAD JAZMIN / GIRLFRIEND KONTRAK

HASNUL RAHMAT / JUVANA 2 – TERPERANGKAP DALAM KEBEBASAN

HUSHAIRI HUSAIN / POLIS EVO

SRI BALASUBRAMANIAM / OLA BOLA

PELAKON KANAK-KANAK TERBAIK

ALIFF FIRDAUS / JEJAK WARRIORS

HARVIND RAJ / JAGAT

RYQAL ISKANDAR / CICAKMAN 3

SHIVATHARAN NAMBIAR / OLA BOLA

TAN QIN LIN / THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

CERITA ASAL TERBAIK

OLA BOLA

REMBAT

MAT MOTO – KAMI MAT MOTO BUKAN MAT REMPIT

JAGAT

THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

LAKON LAYAR TERBAIK FFM28

NOTA

SUAMIKU ENCIK PERFECT

POLIS EVO

MAT MOTO – KAMI MAT MOTO BUKAN MAT REMPIT

LOVE SUPERMOON

LAKON LAYAR TERBAIK (FILEM BUKAN DI DALAM BAHASA MALAYSIA)

OLA BOLA

THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

HUAT THE FISH

MARAVAN

JAGAT

SINEMATOGRAFI TERBAIK

POLIS EVO

BRAVO 5

MUNAFIK

MAT MOTO – KAMI MAT MOTO BUKAN MAT REMPIT

JAGAT

PENYUNTING TERBAIK

OLA BOLA

JAGAT

THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

POLIS EVO

MUNAFIK

PENATAAN SENI TERBAIK

JAGAT

BRAVO 5

OLA BOLA

HUAT THE FISH

THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

PENATAAN BUNYI TERBAIK

REMBAT

POLIS EVO

MUNAFIK

MAT MOTO – KAMI MAT MOTO BUKAN MAT REMPIT

VILLA NABILA

KESAN VISUAL KHAS TERBAIK

KAPSUL

OLA BOLA

MUNAFIK

CICAKMAN 3

THE NOISE

PEREKA KOSTUM/BUSANA TERBAIK

OLA BOLA

CICAKMAN 3

BRAVO 5

THE KID FROM THE BIG APPLE

POLIS EVO

SKOR MUZIK ASAL TERBAIK

CHOWRASTA

JWANITA

PILOT CAFÉ

OLA BOLA

MUNAFIK

LAGU TEMA ASAL TERBAIK

NUR ZAIDI ABD RAHMAN – LANGIT CINTA (DAYANG NURFAIZAH)

SYAMSUL YUSOF – KALAH DALAM MENANG (SYAMSUL YUSOF & MAWI)

EDRY ABDUL HALIM – ADIWIRA (ZIZAN RAZAK & KRU)

NUR ZAIDI ABD RAHMAN – UNTUK CINTA (DAYANG NURFAIZAH)

ZEE AVI & RENDRA ZAWAWI – ARENA CAHAYA (ZEE AVI)

What do you think?

Festival Filem Malaysia’s latest nominations are… …damaging to the local industry. …not something I care about. …helpful for industry growth. …accurately reflective on the year’s top performers. …indicative of corruption. …politically motivated. Other Please Specify: Survey Maker

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