KUCHING: Sarawak has the potential to become an international filming destination provided there is proper promotion and support from film makers worldwide is given.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg who is also Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture said filmmakers from around the world who shoot their projects in Sarawak were assured of state support for a successful production.
The accessible and exotic picturesque landscape and ethnic diversity of culture and religions make Sarawak a natural studio and an exceptionally ideal for film shooting.
“Should Sarawak become an international filming destination, it can generate an alternative source of income for the state apart from promoting the state to the world. We have all that is needed and I encourage film makers out there to come and check out what Sarawak has to offer,” he told reporters here yesterday
He cited New Zealand as one of countries where the filming had become a major source of income for the country, which once depended on agriculture as its source of revenue.
One of the latest films to be shot in the state is a feature film on the life of Sir James Brooke, the first Rajah of Sarawak.
The signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the film was held at The Riverside Majestic Hotel yesterday.
Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Ik Pahon Joyik, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chairman Datuk Abdul Wahab Aziz, British producer Simon Fawcett and American film producer Rob Allyn were involved in the signing the MoU. It was witnessed by Abang Johari.
Brooke Heritage Trust chairman and a grandson of the last Rajah Muda of Sarawak Jason Desmond Anthony Brooke was also present.
The film, to be called ‘The White Rajah’, would touch on the great untold saga of James Brooke falling in love with the beauty, wildlife, the people and cultures of Sarawak.
It is understood that the producers would want to build a full-scale working replica of the Royalist, the schooner in which James Brooke sailed to Sarawak in the 1830s. The vessel would remain here as a heritage attraction.
Meanwhile, Jason will be in the state till Sept 28 for the launching of the Brooke Gallery project at Fort Margherita.
Abang Johari is scheduled to officiate at the opening of the gallery on Sept 24, which coincides with the 175th anniversary of the founding of Sarawak.