PETALING JAYA, Nov 22 — The spirit of New Malaysia is being celebrated by The Best Movie Poster Award 2017/18 as organiser Amir Muhammad opens voting to the public for the first time.

“The format is to make the public more involved with the decision-making,” the filmmaker told Malay Mail.

The competition which began in 2016 invites all local movie posters distributed in Malaysia from September 1, 2017 to November 30 to participate in the fun and informal event, sponsored by Buku Fixi.

The 75 candidates for this year’s award were announced on November 19 on the Anugerah Poster Filem Terbaik Facebook page, with instructions to the public on how they can vote for the top seven finalists.

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“We want to use a more democratic way. We want to let you (yes, you) decide on it. Write a comment below each poster that you feel deserves to be the finalist,” he said.

The instructions emphasise that ‘likes’ will not determine the finalists: the decision will depend solely on constructive comments. Voting for the top seven will end on November 25, at 11pm.

‘Guang’ looks set to be in the top seven, receiving 50 positive comments on Facebook. — Picture via Facebook/Anugerah Poster Filem Terbaik
‘Guang’ looks set to be in the top seven, receiving 50 positive comments on Facebook. — Picture via Facebook/Anugerah Poster Filem Terbaik

Guang is at the forefront of the competition so far, receiving 50 positive comments in three days, many expressing their desire to see it as a finalist.

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Movie information site Filem Kita took to Twitter to warn against any negativity in the competition, writing: “This is not a game of criticism. Ignore bad posters.”

But Amir says he’s not worried about unconstructive feedback, saying, “The comments are quite mature.

“It’s just an informal award anyway, with no ties to any official film body or festival. It’s to celebrate constructive voices from the people.”

The Best Movie Poster Award has a history of being inclusive and forward-thinking. It began unofficially in response to public backlash over the decision by Festival Filem Malaysia (FFM) in 2016 to disqualify critically acclaimed films, Jagat and Ola Bola, from the Best Film Category due to their scripts not fulfilling the 70 per cent Bahasa Malaysia script requirement. 

The Best Film Poster Award does not discriminate on posters for any reason — any Malaysian film poster will qualify as a candidate.

For the first time, it will be up to the public to decide the Best Film Poster Award. — Picture via Facebook/Anugerah Poster Filem Terbaik
For the first time, it will be up to the public to decide the Best Film Poster Award. — Picture via Facebook/Anugerah Poster Filem Terbaik