KUALA LUMPUR: Filmmaker Amir Muhammad and his company Kuman Pictures are coming up with a new film Pendatang, which aims to be the first fully crowdfunded film in the country.
Amir, the co-producer of the thriller said in a news report today that Pendatang hoped to gather RM300,000 for a free screening.
"It is a story set in a dystopian, racially-segregated country. We will upload it on YouTube so it can be accessed by everyone, especially Malaysians," he said.
Amir said that there were six tiers of donations ranging from US$10 to US$10,000 (RM44 to RM44,520) that come with different levels of perks or benefits depending on which tier the funder decides to contribute to the making of the film.
"If we don't raise at least RM300,000, any money pledged would not be charged to the backer — and the movie won't get made. Shooting it for less than that amount would require reducing the scope of the script and production which is already tight and minimal," said Amir.
The crowdfunding will start from Aug 8 to Sept 30 on indiegogo.com where the contributors will be able to keep up with the updates on how much has been collected along with full transparency on transactions made.
Amir said that he opted to crowdfund the film as the film depicted a grim dystopia that would be a hard sell for broadcasters or production companies.
"Using traditional channels in broadcasting the movie would have the risk of the movie being delayed reaching its audience and the movie is expected to be streamed online on Aug 31 next year for National Day."
Amir added that Pendatang was not made for commercial gain, and its success would be measured by its reach and the conversations amongst viewers that it encouraged.
Pendatang tells the story of a Malay girl who is stranded in a Chinese household sometime in a dark, dystopian future.
The film's director Ng Ken Kin said that the audience would go through a cinematic experience from the point of view of a Chinese family trying to get the Malay girl home safely.
"Pendatang might be criticised by certain quarters. People will always have something to say about your film, but we will just focus on the right thing, like making sure we respect the sensitivities of all Malaysians, and coming up with a compelling and interesting story that reaches out to viewers," said Ng.