I LAUGHED my head off when I read your report on the suggestion to increase the price of tickets for Hollywood movies in a bid to encourage more people to watch local movies.

I can bet my last sen that this won’t help the local film industry at all.

We have to realise that good Hollywood movies are in a different league from local movies. It is like the good Hollywood movies are in the Premier League while our local movies are in the third tier of the English league.

No matter how much one increases the price of the tickets, those who are used to quality fare will not spend time and money watching a third-tier performance, so to speak.

Having said that, I must confess that I am a fan of local movies. I watch Malay movies in cinemas. And I’ve had a lot of curious stares from the audience in the cinemas. The most recent movie I watched was Cicakman 2.

My friends even laughed at me for watching local movies. I have told them that some of the locally produced movies are just as good as any foreign-made movies.

One needs only to watch movies directed by the likes of Yasmin Ahmad, Afdlin Shauki, Osman Ali and U-Wei Shaari, to name a few.

Actually, we have enough local talent to make quality films but I doubt it would have helped the producers to break even at the box office.

A few months ago, I went to purchase a ticket for Pensil (directed by S. Subash).

However, I was turned away because no one was buying tickets for that movie at that particular screening time, so the cineplex decided to cancel the screening.

Of course, there are some local films which one has to avoid at all cost.

What I would like to suggest is that the relevant authorities like Finas should encourage these established directors to churn out more films through its funding mechanism; and at the same time, these directors should share their expertise and know-how with fledgling directors. This way, we would be assured of a certain quality in our films.

On the other hand, if an award-winning film like Yasmin’s Muallaf has yet to be released in our own country but has already made its run in Singapore, it tells us something is amiss.

We need to have more people in our film industry who are sincere, honest and mature enough in wanting to see the industry grow to greater heights. We need to get rid of those whose movie-making agenda is one of self-interest only.

KENNETH CHEW, Lunas

Source: NST – December 31, 2008