KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — Film director Datuk Jurey Latiff Rosli has criticised the controversial nominations for 28th Malaysia Film Festival Awards (FFM28) this year, warning that separate categories for Malay language and the rest would only produce "village champs”.

The Coalition of Malaysian Filmmakers' Associations president said open competition is needed in the industry as Malay films’ capability to contend with others has never been an issue.

"I like open competition more and we compete whose product is better, because that is what we want to see in our industry.

"We don’t want to be a village champ, or self-engrossed. Only one side decides and support that policy,” he told Malay Mail Online’s sister publication ProjekMMO.

The nominations of the two critically acclaimed movies — Chiu Keng Guan’s Ola Bola and Shanjhey Kumar Perumal’s Jagat — for Best Picture (non-Bahasa Malaysia) at the 28th FFM this year, instead of the main Best Picture category, had sparked public outrage as well as within the industry.

Popular actor-producer Afdlin Shauki and award-winning cinematographer and this year’s nominee Mohd Noor Kassim, both said they would boycott FFM28, which is to be held from September 1 to 3.

Their vocal criticism against the segregation, claiming it was a form of racialism, resonated with ordinary Malaysians and found support among prominent public personalities like CIMB Group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak and airline tycoon Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

Jurey said category segregation is "not a new issue” in FFM, but the organisers have failed to take heed and it is not impossible that more in the industry would boycott the award ceremony on September 3, if FFM organisers continue to sideline the opinions of filmmakers.

"This issue has been brought up every year, but Finas has never learned from past experiences,” he said, referring to the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia by its acronym.

"Every festival, the same issue will be mentioned, why has there been no review to get the views of everybody in the industry?”

Finas and the Malaysian Film Producers Association have said that the separation of award categories in the FFM was meant to uphold the national language in local films.

Finas director-general Datuk Kamil Othman told Malay Mail Online that the national film agency has made it a policy for locally-made films to emphasise at least "70 per cent” Bahasa Malaysia usage in their scripts, but he also admitted it would be ideal if the Best Picture category in FFM was open to all films regardless of language.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak has since promised to look into the budding controversy.