KOTA KINABALU: Lack of governmental support and film piracy have adversely impacted the growth of Sabah’s film industry.
According to film director Tony Francis Gitom when presenting copies of the films made by Sabahans involved in workshops he organised since 2004, there have been rumours that the State government would allocated RM15 million to boost the local film industry this year.
“I hope the allocation will materialise,” he said.
Tony added that there were many talented people in Sabah but there were lacking in opportunities to explore and develop their talents.
He said that the level of expertise among film makers in Sabah was still at its infancy when compared with their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia but he blamed it on the lack of opportunities available to them.
Since he started his film making workshop, some 1,500 people have taken part in it.
“We have produced actors, film crew, lighting crew and so on as a result of the workshops,” he said.
Those who took part in the workshops have also produced their own films, and one of the most popular was entitled ‘Atukoi Mokirayou’ which is an hour-long comedy.
He said that such film was popular among Sabahans as it possessed local contents that Sabahans found entertaining and appeased their taste.
Tony also explained that local film producers had problems marketing their production due to piracy activities.
“I took a chance and distributed some of the films to the video shops to sell.
“It took them only three days to start making pirated copies and selling them cheap.”
Now, people who want to buy the original copies would have to visit the weekend markets and special festivities such as the Cabbage Festival and the upcoming Harvest Festival.
He added that they might soon have the films available for sale online too.
Tony went on to describe that the local films were quite popular with Sabahan viewers.
“A lot of Sabahans support the local films and they are very proud of them. If there are Dusun telemovies, I find that they will buy them. Sabah is a unique market because it supports the local industry,” he said.
Also present at the presentation ceremony was State Library director Wong Vui Yin.