Film maker appeals for recognition of Dayak movies

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LOCAL PRODUCTION: Benny (second right) and the film cast during the unveiling of the movie. Head of Filem Negara (Finas) Sarawak region, Zulkarnin Hassan is on second left.

KUCHING: Local director and Dayak film maker Benny Zachariah has appealed to corporate and private local television stations to give recognition to Dayak movies and dramas.

This would give more room for other directors and film makers to develop their film-making talent, he said when met at the soft launch of a new film ‘Dunya Gengstar’ recently.

“Giving more chances to air local movies and dramas would make the movies more appreciated by local viewers in the state,” he said.

He said many movies could be portrayed in various ethnic languages.

“The Iban language, for instance, is widely used and understood by all races. From there, we can have other languages such as Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Melanau and Kelabit.”

Benny said the major setback for the Sarawak film industry was lack of expertise and financial constraint.

Apart from that, there was no acting or performing arts academy in the state where producers and directors could go to recruit actors or actresses.

Dunya Gengstar is the second movie after the first Iban movie ‘Saloi the Movie’ last year.

Both movies were produced by BFG Media and Entertainment Production Sdn Bhd.

Benny did not deny the presence of a pool of talented actors and actresses with no formal training in acting.

“We are using this bunch of actors and actresses and I believe they can make it with determination,” he said.

On promotion, he said the industry was in its infant stage but it would not stop BFG Media and Entertainment Production Sdn Bhd from testing the
global market by promoting its latest Iban language action flick, Dunya Gangster, on the Internet.

Benny said the company, a newcomer in the film industry, was planning a publicity blitz via Facebook, Twitter, and other websites.

“I came to know of a few African film production houses promoting their culture-based films on the Internet and it sparked my interest. I was thinking to myself how good it would be if Dayak films could have the same exposure,” he said on Saturday.

“Online marketing holds a lot of potential for feature films. The timing is good for local Malaysian film distributors and producers to benefit from Internet marketing.”

He said the company was identifying several Kuala Lumpur-based Internet social media providers with the intention of collaborating in promoting the Dunya Gangster movie.