#SHOWBIZ: The film unit that built Malaysia

The pioneering film unit in Malaysia, known as Filem Negara Malaysia (FNM), played a crucial role in shaping the country's filmmaking landscape. Founded in 1946 and initially called the Malayan Film Unit (MFU), it was established with the support of Tan Sri Mubin Sheppard, a key figure who secured film equipment from disbanded Army Film Units.

Six men worked with Ralph Elton to shoot the documentary Voices of Malaya in 1945, including Eusoff Khan, Osman Shamsuddin, Ismail Kulop, Hasan Rashid, and Wan Mat Wan Embun. Lee Meow Seong served as a writer for the unit. The first MFU office was located at Oriental Building in Melaka Street, where the Information Department and Radio Malaya were based.

In 1949, FNM produced The Kinta Story, featuring Malaysia's first stop-frame animation, which won awards at international film festivals. Hassan A. Muthalib, the father of Malaysian animation, recalled that the unit's most significant contribution was in creating propagandistic films that rallied the public during the communist insurgency.

Zain Kulwattee, a war hero who served in the British navy and volunteered for Force 136 during World War 2, was a prominent figure in FNM. He initiated many productions that utilized a storytelling approach, such as the Kisah Kampung Kita series and the police series Tongkat Hitam. After 1969, the ministry imposed greater control over FNM's filmmaking, leading to Zain's early retirement in 1970.

He later recommended turning FNM into a corporation to support the struggling film industry, which ultimately led to the establishment of Finas. Other key figures in FNM's history include Ow Kheng Law, who became the first director-general of RTM in 1963, and John Nettleton, who served as a producer and director-general after Zain left the unit.