The Malaysian Artiste’s Association (Seniman) has lodged a police report against Namewee’s film, ‘BABI’, a local movie that has earned four nominations in global film festivals all over the world.
Mohd Hafiz Mohd Nafiah, the Seniman secretary-general, told Bernama that the movie allegedly had elements of racism that had “tarnished Malaysia’s image” despite director Namewee’s clarification that the film is based on real-life events.
“We don’t prohibit any party from making critical films, but we must understand that Malaysia is a multi-racial country. We also urge the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block the film on social media, including Youtube,” said the secretary-general after he lodged a report at Taman Melawati Police Station last Friday (11 December) and posted about it on Twitter.
Laporan polis dibuat ke atas namawee berkenaan judul babi. Mohon pihak polis,skmm dan finas mengambil tindakan terhadap pengkhianat industri ini! pic.twitter.com/gdn1DAdLqp
— Persatuan Seniman Malaysia (@SenimanMalaysia) December 11, 2020
Following this report, MCMC has released an official statement on their website, requesting for a local association to file a complaint against BABI so the agency can assess its content and action can be taken accordingly.
Previously, a Federal Territory PN Youth Information Unit member launched a report on the internationally-recognized film as the movie poster included words that could be regarded as racial slurs such as, “Melayu B*doh”, “India K*ling” and “Cina B*bi”.
Namewee said that BABI is based on a true story that took place in a small town in Southern Malaysia in the year 2000. However, he claimed that many Malaysians don’t know of the incident as there was a lack of media coverage due to it being “compromised by relevant authorities”.
The film, which has been banned from being released in Malaysia, was nominated in the International Thai Film Festival 2020, the Around International Film Festival in Berlin for Best Feature Film, and Best Original Film Song in the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2020. Namewee has also received two nominations at the Open World Toronto Film Festival for Best Actor and Best Director.
What do you guys think of this? Would you watch the film?
Also read: M’sian Film, “BABI” Nominated For 4 Global Film Festivals But Police Report Filed Against Director
