Finas akan panggil penggiat filem, teliti dakwaan kartel

Film Industry Association (Finas) CEO Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib has stated that despite no official allegations of a cartel existing in the local film industry, the organization needs to investigate the current situation and gather information. Finas CEO Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib said that although no formal complaints have been received so far, the organization is taking a proactive approach to collect information to understand the true state of affairs in the industry.

"Formally, Finas has not received any complaints, but that does not mean we are not aware and now we are gathering information," he told reporters after a joint session with Finas Executive Director of Film Negara 2026-2035. Azmir said the main concern is not merely about one distributor controlling the entire market, rather the possibility of a single entity being involved in several stages of the industry supply chain as a distributor, producer, and owner of theaters.

At this point, the survey has found no company holding all three relevant licenses simultaneously, in line with the Finas Act which stipulates that no single company can hold more than two categories of licenses. However, Azmir said the research will also look into the possibility of cross-border operations being done through subsidiaries or different business entities.

In this regard, he revealed that Finas has received information from a local Tamil film producer about the entry of an Indian film at the last moment, which was alleged to push back the schedule of his film. To address this issue, Azmir said Finas is investigating mechanisms to make foreign film entry announcements mandatory, similar to the approach in Singapore that requires notification at least a month before screening.

Azmir said scheduling adjustment is crucial to protecting local films across all languages, including Malay, Tamil, and Chinese, from facing sudden competition from foreign films targeting the same audience group.