THE Film Directors' Association of Malaysia (FDAM) Convention 2024 was held for the first time in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) and saw the presence of hundreds of filmmakers and artistes.
The event, which took place at Finas, Hulu Klang, successfully brought together various production houses, actors and actresses in seven activities, namely Business Matching, Booths, Film Appreciation, Masterclass, Open Casting, Wayang Pacak and Creative Industry Dialogue.
FDAM chairman Datuk Afdlin Shauki said the convention was held to provide exposure on the functions of the association, which is under the auspices of Finas.
"FDAM is not just an association of drama, documentary and film directors, but rather a partner of Finas in maintaining and advancing the film industry, digital content production and honing the talents of budding film, drama and documentary directors.
"This collaboration strengthens the ongoing partnership of FDAM and Finas, which have been working closely together in advancing the film and creative industry over the decades," he said.
Afdlin said various initiatives were carried out to discuss issues in the film industry.
"At the same time, we want to find solutions to the problems faced by members of the association as well as improvements to advance the film industry in line with the association's slogan, Creativity Without Borders."
Through the Business Matching session, artistes and FDAM members had the opportunity to pitch their "ideas" to film and drama production companies such as Viu, Unifi TV, iQiyi, Astro Shaw, Infinitus, KL Post, UUM Holding, Mache All Star, Global Station, Independent Pictures, 4Wward Pictures and A Aida Production.
For Film Appreciation, a drama directed by Mior Hashim Manap titled Imam was selected for special screening.
This was followed by a dialogue session involving one of the film's main actors, Noramin, academician Raja Rajeswari Seetha Raman and Faisal Ahmad, who was the moderator.
In the Creative Industry Dialogue Session, FDAM introduced experienced and influential panellists from the film industry, namely Finas chief executive officer Datuk Azmir Saifuddin and Content Forum Malaysia (CMCF) chief executive officer Mediha Mahmood.
Meanwhile, the Open Casting session at Studio Ho Ah Loke was attended by members of the public and aspiring actors and actresses.
The Masterclass session featured four famous film directors — U-Wei Saari, Prof Mahadi J Murat, Datuk Yusof Haslam and Adrian Teh — who shared their success stories as film producers and directors.
Thanks to Wayang Pacak, arts enthusiasts and the public had the chance to watch the historical drama 'Pagari Bulan', directed by Raja Mukhriz Raja Ahmad Kamaruddin, at Dataran Karyawan Finas.