The Communications Ministry, through the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), consistently undertakes efforts to elevate the country’s film industry globally. Deputy Minister Teo Nie Ching said the initiatives include human capital development, funding and marketing efforts for local creative content.
Regarding human capital development, FINAS offers technical training and professional-level courses in directing, script writing, production, and editing, as well as technical aspects such as camera operation, lighting, visual effects and more. This initiative also involves collaboration with international experts and instructors aimed at introducing the best techniques, innovations and experiences to local players, she said in response to a question from Senator Abdul Nasir Idris about the government’s efforts on the matter in the Dewan Negara today. Teo said that throughout this year, FINAS hosted 64 human capital development programmes in the film industry, involving 3,925 participants nationwide. She said to encourage the production of quality and internationally competitive creative content, the government allocated RM16 million for the Creative Content Fund (DKK), which includes the National Documentary Production Fund, the First-Time Amateur Filmmaker Fund (FAME), the Co-Pro Fund (Feature Films and Documentaries), the Script Development Fund, the International Festival Participation Fund, the Recognition Fund and the TV Programme Collaboration Fund with Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM). One example of DKK’s success is the local feature film ‘Abang Adik,’ directed by Jin Ong, which won two awards—Best Film and Best Actor (Wu Kang-ren) in the Snow Leopard category—at the 10th Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) held from Nov 13 to 21, 2024, at The Culver Theater in Los Angeles, United State