KUALA LUMPUR: In efforts to commemorate national icon Tan Sri P Ramlee, the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry is organising the P Ramlee Festival.
Academy of Arts, Culture & Heritage (Aswara) Rector Prof Dr Hatta Azad Khan said starting this month, various activities will be carried out by various ministry departments and agencies, including the Bintang P Ramlee contest held at Auditorium RTM yesterday which was participated by contestants from Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.
“RTM will hold this contest annually,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
Hatta said RTM was also airing 10 telemovies through their ‘Tribute P. Ramlee’ slot which uses the title of P Ramlee’s songs.
“These telemovies are shown every Sunday night since early November. Among the titles of the movies are ‘Getaran Jiwa’, ‘Tunggu Sekejap’, ‘Dimanakan Ku Cari Ganti, ‘Hanya DiKau’ and ‘Titisan Kasih’, among others,” he said.
He said Istana Budaya will stage the Ali Baba Musical from Dec 21 to 29.
“This theatre show was done in 2006 using the concept of a children’s musical. This year, in conjunction with the P Ramlee Festival, the theatre will be redone and given a teen concept featuring Aznil Haji Nawawi, Fizo Omar, Elfira Loy and many more,” he said.
Hatta said the festival, themed ‘Dari Masa Hingga Masa’ (From Time to Time), is a continuation from the launch of the P Ramlee chair in line with Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim’s hopes that besides research on P Ramlee, other activities need to be carried out such as theatre, song composition contest and such to elevate the icon’s success and excellence.
He said for this, Aswara, with the cooperation of Finas and RTM, will launch the P Ramlee Inspiration Short Film Competition on Jan 1, which will be open to all amateurs aged between 18 and 40.
The short films ranging from five to seven minutes long will use P Ramlee film titles, one character and a line from the character in his films, he said.
The closing date for the contest is Feb 28 and results will be announced in May 2013, he added.
According to Hatta, short films which pass the initial screening will be shown on YouTube and RTM for a month starting March 22, 2013, in conjunction with P Ramlee’s birthday, allowing viewers to evaluate and choose.
Hatta said Aswara held the ‘P Ramlee Dari Desa’ programme in February, which aimed to scout for talent in rural areas.
“The programme is conducted by Aswara with the National Culture and Arts Department and RTM, involving several categories which are relevant to P Ramlee’s talent of singing, playing musical instruments and acting,” he said.
He said Aswara will organise the P Ramlee Prime Talk, a series of three talks a year by researchers in the field of arts, music, theatre and film begining February next year.
For the field of research, Aswara will launch the ‘Pengajian Pasca Siswazah dan Penganugerahan Zamallah P.Ramlee’ (P Ramlee Post-Graduate Studies and Zamallah Award). The 2013-2014 academic session will begin in June 2013. — Bernama