Two weeks ago, a local film was released in the theatre. Instead of celebrating its achievement, some people went on social media to complain about it, calling it ‘berlabih’ (excessive), low budget or not ‘professional’ enough.
As a Bruneian, I was deeply disheartened to read their comments. While the film may not be up to Hollywood standards, I assume that the crew was on a tight budget and had to maximise what they had to get their point of view across.
The local film industry is still young, which means aspiring filmmakers have to look elsewhere for veterans in the business to guide them. To these youngsters with a dream, talent alone is not enough to make a splash; and persistence doesn’t often pay off either.
To draw even a small income from the industry, filmmakers have been lucky enough to be picked up by the local network or streaming services. But once the project has been secured, creative work often plays second fiddle to the strict guidelines given by investors.
Here’s the crux of the problem: the film industry will remain small and insignificant for as long as there’s no public support for it. Without a proper platform on which to stand, even the most talented and the most determined of filmmakers will eventually give up on their dream and pursue a nine-to-five job.
So for these vocal members of the public, whom I suspect based their opinions on the trailer alone, to openly criticise the work of local filmmakers, my question to them is: Do you understand their struggles?
Movie Buff
