IT has been sometime since audiences have seen the handiwork of director and actor Dr Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri on the small screen.
After five years of staying away from television, Ahmad Idham, 52, has returned to direct a telemovie about prison inmates, especially babies behind bars.
PAINFUL LIFE
The telemovie 'Gari Jadi Saksi' is inspired by a true story of a baby who is born to a woman prison inmate.
"I am honoured to be given the trust to direct a telemovie that is not only heart-wrenching but also educational. It is my golden chance to work on a project that is out of the ordinary, seldom told yet very real," he said in an interview with 'Harian Metro' recently.
PROFOUND
"Gari Jadi Saksi is a profound story, with painful and timely lessons for everyone. Viewers will get to learn of the hardship of a mother raising her child behind bars, and how this deeply affects the child when he grows up later."
Ahmad Idham thanked Metro Productions for roping him on board the project.
"This is a brilliant idea to be translated into a made-for-television film, having it on the small screen enables whole families to watch it and learn useful lessons."
FEEDBACK
Ahmad Idham said that as a director, he gave the producers a lot of useful feedback on how to approach the telemovie.
"Together, we discussed my ideas on improving the scenes, dialogue and characters, to inject more beauty into the storyline," he said, adding that the telemovie was supported by the Malaysian Correctional Foundation.
"In order to ensure that all the facts displayed in the telemovie were correct, I spent several days discussing things with the Malaysian Prisons Department.
"I wish to thank them for their invaluable help, they were very supportive of the telemovie."
ACQUAINTANCES
Ahmad Idham is fortunate to have acquaintances working in the department. This made pre-production work a lot easier for him.
"I am optimistic that this telemovie will meet its objective of showing Malaysians how mothers in jail raise their babies behind bars, and how prison affects their little ones."
Ahmad Idham filmed 'Gari Jadi Saksi 'in early May, and it will be screened on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) soon.
SURRENDER
The female protagonist of the story gives birth to a baby behind bars, and is forced to surrender the child to a friend so that the child will get to live a normal life.
"The child grows up without the proper loving care of a family member, and this becomes a form of emotional trauma.
"The story is mainly a two-character one, and more than one actor and actress play the mother and the child at various ages," said Ahmad Idham.
VAGUE
Ahmad Idham also said it was not clear why the mother landed in jail in the first place, and keeping the circumstances behind her imprisonment vague was part and parcel of making the story open-ended as well as thought-provoking.
"The story is meant to be dark and gritty, as well as an emotional powerhouse. We want to make audiences feel for mother and child," said Ahmad Idham, who thanked RTM for its willingness to have 'Gari Jadi Saksi' screened.
SHAHEIZY SAM
Ahmad Idham said that it had been "a long time" since he made a movie about prisoners.
"The last one I made was '8 Jam' in 2012 starring Shaheizy Sam. Viewers loved it, and many have since urged me to make another one," he said.
REHABILITATION
Ahmad Idham added that 'Gari Jadi Saksi' did not merely show the prison as a place for wrong-doers to undergo punishment, but also as a place for them to be rehabilitated and reintegrate into society.
"We also get to see how they forge friendships with all sorts of people while in jail, and learn to accept each other," he said.