KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — So what are the two biggest obstacles standing in the way of a local film getting an Academy Award nomination?
Red tape by local government agencies and that Malaysian tendency to do everything at the last minute, says Sridhar Sreekakula, a producer and international film distributor.
“You actually have to plan ahead. You have to start one year in advance sometimes. The road to the Oscars is not just (about) filling an application and here you go!
“You have to get awareness, you have to position the film, it has to be shown at certain film festivals,” the chief executive of Barking Cow Media LLC told Malay Mail Online.
According to Sridhar, going the extra mile to promote selected Oscar-worthy films at least one year ahead helps greatly.
In addition, doing qualified theatrical releases also helps increase a movie’s popularity, widening its chances of getting noticed by the Academy Awards members for more awards categories, he said.
“Qualified theatrical release means that you work with a distributor like us and we release your films in Los Angeles and New York. Just Los Angeles and New York is enough, in the theatre, for one week. We know how to do that and we’ve been doing that for years,” he added.
With a little more effort and budget, the US-based Sridhar says Malaysia can also have its films shown at the high-profile pre-qualifying Palm Springs Film Festival in the US which is often attended by Academy Award panellists.
“If you show your movie there, nine out of 10 times, it gets shortlisted. So you go say from a pool of 180 films, down to 10 films, down to five films and then the public sees the nominees. That’s the way they manage it, otherwise it’s too crazy to manage.
“So now the voting body of the Academy Award is looking at the 15 films which have been narrowed down. They are not looking at the 180 anymore. What I feel about the films in Malaysia? We can 100 per cent get into that category,” he added.
Sridhar lamented that two previous Oscar hopefuls — Lelaki Harapan Dunia (2015) and Redha (2016) — were submitted at the eleventh hour, impeding efforts to promote them.
In 2015, Liew Seng Tat’s Lelaki Harapan Dunia bagged the Finas Film Festival’s (FMM) Best Film and Best Director awards and was picked as Malaysia’s hopeful for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 Academy Awards.
It was the third time Malaysia sent an entry after the big budget Puteri Gunung Ledang in 2005 which was directed by Saw Tiong Hin, and Bunohan in 2013, directed by Dain Said.
Last year, Redha directed by Tunku Mona Riza was the latest Oscar hopeful. Like Lelaki Harapan Dunia, Redha too had bagged countless international awards. Despite that, it failed to get an Academy Award nomination.
“India in the last few years spent US$600,000 (RM2.6 million) promoting their choice of films. Korea across all categories in the music, film and everything, spent US$2 million (RM8.6 million).
“Us? Less than US$100,000 (RM430,000). For Lelaki Harapan Dunia... it was a beautiful film but they gave it to us last minute,” Sridhar lamented, referring to the amount allocated for promotion and marketing of the film.
Sridhar, who has 30 years’ experience in the business, added that Malaysia has the talent and there is no reason why our films cannot land a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at least.
From what he says, we just need to plan ahead.
