'I'll continue to screen Tanda Putera privately'
While agreeing to defer the public screening of her controversial May 13 film Tanda Putera , award-winning director Shuhaimi Baba will continue to show it privately to those who want to watch the film.
While agreeing to defer the public screening of her controversial May 13 film Tanda Putera, award-winning director Shuhaimi Baba will continue to show it privately to those who want to watch the film.
"I reserve the right to screen the movie privately, and if people want me to screen it in private and want me to provide commentary, I will," Shuhaimi told a press conference in Shah Alam today.
She said this when asked to comment on the private screenings of her film, twice in Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) and at least once to Felda settlers, in the last few weeks.
Asked if she would also screen Tanda Putera to opposition parties if she was asked, Shuhaimi said she would do so, as long as the screening was paid for.
"If you pay, I'll screen it," added the self-professed BN supporter.
Shuhaimi, however, said that she deferred to a cabinet decision to postpone the public screening of her “nationalistic” film until a more “conducive” date.
“But I have decided that I want to allow viewers to watch it in calmer settings, (therefore) we decided to only screen it after the general election.
“So no need to create disruptions, no need to send protests or what not, we will screen it only after the elections,” said Shuhaimi.
Blame on uncouth opposition supporters
She spoke to reporters after sitting on a panel of artistes in a Sinar Harian-organised forum discussing if the current trend of using entertainers in political ceramahs is because of their credibility as public figures, or just a gimmick to attract voters.
The film director had blamed opposition supporters and their uncouth foul-languaged protests of the movie and sometimes even scathing personal attacks against her person as the reason behind public perception that led to the cabinet decision to postpone its cinema screening.
Tanda Putera, which chronicled the dynamics between then-prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein and his home minister Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman during their handling of the 1969 emergency, courted controversy after some claimed that it depicted bias against the Chinese as the main proponents of the May 13 racial riots.
Critics also decried additions of scenes some say are historically inaccurate, including one allegedly depicting a Chinese opposition leader urinating on a state flag.
Shuhaimi, however, defended her work as being from deep historical research and meant to act as a a nation-building tool and deterrent from such divisive incidents, not to provoke fresh racial tension, as some claimed.
Responding to protests against the film, the cabinet had decided to temporarily suspend its screening till a later date, explaining that the film in the present climate may create tensions if screened publicly in cinemas.
‘No bans on pro-Pakatan artistes’
Meanwhile, also at the press conference, actor’s guild Seniman president Mohd Zaidi Jamil , popularly know as Zed Zaidi, said that as far as he knows, there is no “ban” on pro-Pakatan artistes preventing them from being hired for jobs.
“I have never seen a letter saying so, it is all just perception. But if there are letters (with instructions) to ban pro-opposition artistes, then show it to me so that I can help fight it under Seniman,” he said.
He said that mostly it is a matter of perception.
Zed Zaidi agreed with Shuhaimi, who added that in most cases artistes were dropped from jobs or not picked if they have bad track records for disciplinary problems, failure to follow instructions or took up-front deposits but never followed through with their work.
Asked if pro-BN artistes are also being hounded for their pro-establishment tendencies, Zed Zaidi also denied such cases.
When asked specifically about comedian Salih Yaakob whose spoof on the opposition through the ‘Bangkang dari longkang’ comedy videos posted on YouTube, had allegedly earned him the ire of opposition supporters pressuring him until he was forced to retire, Zed also said that it is only perception and not what actually happened, to the comedian or any pro-BN artists.
Popular actor turned PAS supporter Hairie Othman, best known for his portrayal of national hero Leftenan Adnan - who was also at the press conference - added that as far as he knew, no one ever told Salih to quit over his opposition spoofs.
All agreed though that it is the right of all actors to profess their support of any political party as they too are individuals with the right and responsibility to take part in politics and help choose who will lead Malaysia.
Film review
