24 Oktober 2007 : All Film Info Is Here

24 October 2007 : News Straits Times
Oleh Sharifah Arfah

Finas, the National Film Development Corporation, has put the Malaysian film world on-line, creating the Sinema Malaysia website with information on the local film industry, artistes, crews and films. Launched in March at the Finas studio, it is a directory of production houses, artistes, film information and new talent, and a discussion forum. The site design and data collection took three months to complete. "Our aim is to cater to people interested in the local film industry. As long as you are a film fan, you are welcome," said Sinema Malaysia web forum moderator and supervisor Mohd Faizal Mohd Fauzi.

The Sinema Malaysia website, in Bahasa Malaysia and English, is maintained by five staffers, including Fauzi. At last count, the site contains information, spanning a period of nearly 60 years, on 602 films, 2,374 artistes, 106 new talent, 456 companies and 3,560 crew members. News and articles on activities conducted by Finas are also included, as well as screening dates for up-coming films.

"We dont want to make the website too hip or cluttered. We try to make it as simple and user-friendly as possible," said Faizal. In building the site, content-gathering was the most tedious task. The team referred to old books and watched old films from the Finas library. For information on actors and actresses of yesteryears, the team mainly referred to Malaysian Film Beginning and Jejak Gemilang, both
written by seasoned scriptwriter Aimi Jarr.

Additional information came from Filemkita.com, an independently-run website, especially about independent films, short films, and animations. The team liaises with film and artiste associations such as Seniman, Karyawan and Filmworkers Association of Malaysia to get information on listed members and artistes. "There was a foreigner who was working on a book about the Asian film industry, who made inquiries via the website on the industry people he wanted to contact here," he said.

The site receives an average of 1.9 million hits a month, peaking at nearly three million hits during the 20th Malaysian Film Festival in August.

Visitors to the site can sign up as members to take part in the discussion forums. "With membership coming from countries such as Singapore, the Philippines, and even as far away as Australia and Italy, it shows that many outsiders are also interested about the local film industry. The only thing we need now is promotion, to let more people know about this site," said Faizal.

The webmasters are currently compiling a comprehensive directory on suitable filming locations. "We are now offering a photography contest where participants can submit photographs of buildings, open spaces, or other interesting sites which can be considered for filming locations.

"We will compile the photos and put it on the website, because it is a good way to promote our country, especially to foreign film companies," he said, citing Ang Lees Lust, Caution as an example. Parts of the film were filmed in Ipoh and Kampar. The same administrators also maintain www.finas.gov.my, a corporate website about Finas. Industry information about filmmaking loans, training and seminars can be obtained here.

"We will upgrade this site in the future, and we will start by putting information on box-office takings, to avoid inconsistencies on the figures," said Faizal.

FAIZAL hopes that more people will visit the website.