Due to widespread extended closures of cinemas caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Malaysian film industry posted even worse results in 2021 than in 2020. According to data published by Finas, the national institution for the development and promotion of the national film industry, only eight local productions managed to make it onto the big screen during the entire year. With releases concentrated in two short windows in early spring and at the end of the year, the eight titles earned a total of 1.21 million ringgit (around 241,000 euros or US$267,000). For a quick comparison, in 2020, 23 domestic films were distributed (16 of which hit the big screen before the pandemic broke) for a cumulative box office of 16.23 million ringgit (equivalent to around 3.49 million euros or US$3.87 million).
These are devastating figures that have been a severe blow to a sector that, in the pre-pandemic years, had witnessed consistent expansion, in terms of the number of cinemas and seats available in the country, too. This expansion burst like a bubble in the face of containment measures put into place for the pandemic. Because in Malaysia, as elsewhere, but particularly in South-East Asia, there has been a steady migration of films to the streaming platforms, which sped up and reinforced trends already being seen. In Malaysia, for several years now, the Astro satellite network has offered a great swath of domestic releases in its premium package about two weeks after theatrical release. This very short big screen window has undoubtedly contributed to facilitating a flight towards the web, on the part of both productions and audiences; a flight that risks undermining the country’s film industry.
While audiences in Kuala Lumpur, as in the rest of the world, flocked to see Spider-Man: No Way Home, giving the industry a boost, it does not seem that the relationship with the domestic film industry has been restored. Initial figures for 2022, referring to January and February, the Lunar New Year period, usually one of the most lucrative for local cinema, show nine releases with total takings of 2.65 million ringgit (equal to about 571,000 euros or US$633,000). Although this is already more than the overall total for 2021, these are still derisory figures.
In the face of these discouraging figures, small notes of comfort can be found in the appreciation of the most remarkable titles in this gloomy two-year period. After the hiatus of 2020, the national Festival Filem Malaysia was held in December 2021, crowning Emir Ezwan’s Soul (Roh), which was screened at FEFF 2020, as best film, while the trophy for best first-time director went to Zahir Omar for Fly by Night, which came to Udine in 2019.
Even with regards the race for the Best International Film Oscar, in which Malaysia participated for only the sixth and seventh time for the 2021 and 2022 ceremonies, FEFF also brought good luck, as the titles chosen were the aforementioned Soul and Hail, Driver! (Prebet Sapu) by Muzzamer Rahman, presented in Udine last year. In terms of international recognition, local independent productions were consoled by the Grand Jury Prize picked up at the Shanghai Festival by Barbarian Invasion, directed by Tan Chui Mui.
And a shot in the arm could come to independent productions, thanks to funding from MyCreative, a government initiative aimed at supporting the country’s creative industries. Among the supported projects, potentially ready between 2022 and 2023, there are new films from auteurs of the digital new wave: Turtle Poacher by Woo Ming Jin and You Are Here by Yeo Joon Han, as well as debuts such as the long-awaited Tiger Stripes by Amanda Nell Eu, and the directorial debut of the consummate producer Leonard Tee.
Paolo Bertolin