KUALA LUMPUR — The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) are ready to hold further talks with the Youth and Sports Ministry to establish an allocation to empower filmmakers in creating compelling movies centred around the country’s sports arena.
Its president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said this was to highlight the elements of unity and nurture a spirit of patriotism, particularly among the youth.
The envisioned outcome is to inspire the younger generation to emulate the achievements of the country’s sporting icons.
“We are eager to submit a proposal to the government, specifically through the relevant ministries, to explore the possibility of establishing a fund,” he told reporters after attending the special screening of the movie ‘Gemencheh Boys’ here last night.
“This fund could provide crucial support to filmmakers passionate about producing movies that symbolise success in sports.
“… I feel that we have the support from KBS, just need to find ways to structure (the plan) properly for our filmmakers to pay attention to and find the inspiration to produce higher quality scripts.”
The movie, first screened on October 26, narrates the true story of a group of village boys from Felda Bukit Rotan Utara, Gemencheh, Negeri Sembilan, dubbed ‘Enam Jahanam.’
Despite their mischievous reputation, they managed to achieve success in cricket, winning gold at the 2017 SEA Games and representing the nation in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Norza said the success of the likes of bowling queen Datuk Shalin Zulkifli, squash legend Datuk Nicol David and track cycling ace Datuk Azizulhasni Awang could be turned into high-quality films like the movie Lee Chong Wei: Rise of the Legend.
“It’s important for us, as sports practitioners, to give our full support to sports (films) based on the success stories of our athletes… on how difficult it was for them to succeed. If we do not support, who else will,” he added. — December 14, 2023