Prominent Malaysian cinematographer Mohd Noor Kassim gave the organisers of the upcoming Film Festival Awards 2016 (FFA 2016) a cold, hard slap to the face by returning two trophies he previously won as a sign of protest.
Last week, the 43-year-old had threatened to boycott this year’s event, in which he is a nominee, and also return the trophies if the organisers insist on segregating the awards’ nomination according to language, a move he deemed “racist”.
And on Monday, Mohd Noor made good on his pledge.
In a short nine-second video that’s currently making its round on social media, he was seen approaching National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) director Datuk Kamil Othman at the end of the Tanya Finas 2.0 forum and handing over the two trophies, which he won for 2009’s ‘Setem’ and 2011’s ‘Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa’.
Despite a lengthy explanation by both Finas and its strategic partner Malaysia Film Producers Association (PFM) during the forum, Mohd Noor told The Malay Mail Online that he remained unconvinced.
“I am still dissatisfied because we are Malaysians. Why segregate?
“I am Malay but I say, [it appears] the Malays fear competition with other races. I am ashamed as a Malay.
“Why do we fear healthy competition? Why differentiate with Chinese and Indian? In film, the language of film is what’s important,” he was quoted by the daily as saying.
Last week, the FFA drew massive criticisms for disqualifying fan favourites ‘OlaBola’ and ‘Jagat’ from the Best Picture category because the dialogue was not fully in Bahasa Malaysia. Instead, both films were moved to the ‘Best Non-Bahasa Melayu Film’ category.
