| Hosting M'sia Film Week Every 3 Months In Britain Mulled - Rais |
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LONDON, June 10 (Bernama) -- The Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry is studying the prospect of hosting the "Malaysia Film Week" in Britain every three months, Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said Saturday.
He said this followed the encouraging response received for the seven movies screened for four days from Wednesday in conjunction with the "Malaysia Week '07" at the Covent Garden Market here.
He said the management of the Odeon Cinema at Covent Garden, which screened five of the movies, was prepared to cooperate with the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), the agency responsible for hosting the "Malaysia Film Week" here which ended yesterday.
"We will find other cinema theatres here that are willing to cooperate with us," he told Malaysian journalists covering the "Malaysia Week '07" after launching the Malaysian Film Fans Club.
Rais said efforts must be stepped up to bring Malaysian movies to foreign shores, particularly to countries with sizeable Malaysians residing, to educate them to support and love movies produced in Malaysia.
"We chose Britain to be the first as many Malaysians are living here, especially students. I hope when they return to Malaysia later, they would have developed an interest for Made-In-Malaysia movies, hence continuing to watch the movies," he said.
Rais said he believed bringing movies shot in Malaysia to Britain would not only rekindle interest among Malaysians but also the local communities here as the themes of the movies were more of universal entertainment.
"Only in terms of language there's a bit of problem but we will provide subtitles. Maybe the movies will be dubbed in future," he added.
The Malaysia Film Week saw the screening of "Bilut", "Cinta", "Puaka Tebing Biru", "Waris Jari Hantu", and "The Red Kebaya" at the Odeon Cinema, while "Jangan Pandang Belakang" and "Cicak Man" were shown at Malaysia Hall.
At another news conference, Rais said his ministry had identified several spots in Kuala Lumpur to be turned into street arts centres to promote growth of cultural and economic activities.
Among the areas earmarked are Chow Kit, Petaling Street, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Sultan Abdul Samad building.
"Through street arts, our youngsters can stage performances and show off their talents. We will provide premises for food and drinks for arts lovers to sit down and leisurely enjoy the performances," he added.
-- BERNAMA
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