The Malaysian film industry needs to move forward and focus in producing good and quality works in view of the decision made by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) with the introduction of a new category at the 28th edition of the Malaysia Film Festival (MFF28) this year.

Romantic film, Love, Supermoon director Wan Hasliza Wan Zainuddin said the battle among industry players escalated and lead to the downfall of the industry.

Wan Hasliza, who is a final contender in the Best Director category this year, echoed the Ministry’s sentiment citing that the strategic move spells excellence for the local film scene.

“I agreed that the national language should be given the spotlight but I also feel that the industry standards must kept at a high level,” she told Astro AWANI today.

“Faced by competition from other non-Malay films, I’m sure that the local film industry can be guaranteed of high quality standard,” she added.

Terbaik Dari Langit director, Nik Amir Mustapha said industry practitioners should move on and the issue should not be prolonged anymore.

“We have to deal with bigger issues in the industry, why should we meddle on a trivial issue as such,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“Our standard is far behind, if we were to compare to international films. So, why are we busy quarrelling over such a trivial issue,” he asked.

The August 10 decision by MCMC led to a boycott by the Film Directors Association of Malaysia (FDAM) after it decided to opt out from being involved at the 28th edition of the prestigious film award.

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