In a dramatic turnaround, the producers of ‘Pendatang’ managed to crowdsource RM335,981 as of Oct 4, 5.30pm, via Indiegogo to get the dystopian thriller made, smashing its RM300,000 target.
This meant producer Kuman Pictures can also pay the crowdfunding platform’s RM28,614 fee, with change to spare.
On Sept 28, ‘Pendatang’ had only managed to raise RM161,637. Kuman Pictures managing director and filmmaker Amir Muhammad said the project would be shelved if it could not meet its fundraising target.
Despite things looking bleak at the time, Amir hoped that money would pour in at the last minute.
“We are over the moon!” he told Malaysiakini, adding that he was not entirely surprised by the sudden reversal of fortune.
“Well, Malaysians always do say to ourselves that we are last-minute people.
“My experience in publishing book anthologies prepared me for this because we always receive the most entries in the final two days. But of course, it was nail-biting!” said Amir, who had doubts about meeting the fundraising target.
“I think it was only when we reached 69 percent (of funds raised) yesterday that I allowed myself to feel optimistic.”
To those who donated, Amir said: “Thank you for putting your trust in us, we will never forget this and we hope you will love the movie.”
“Since we are not sending it to the censorship board, we cannot have an actual cinema premiere. But we will definitely invite the top tier donors to an internal preview screening with the cast and crew, as promised.”
Supporting other filmmakers
‘Pendatang’ is set in a fictional Malaysia where different races are forcefully segregated by law.
The story focuses on a Chinese family who is moving into their new home, where they find a scared Malay girl hiding in. The family is then faced with the dilemma of what to do with this “pendatang” in their house.
As for the extra money raised, Amir said: “We will use them to make extra t-shirts and print more screenplay books. They will not be sold but given away as contest prizes at events. We would love to work with colleges especially, as well as NGOs that promote freedom of expression.”
For now, he has no plans to crowdfund other movies of this scale.
“Maybe for something cheaper, like a short film or documentary - also not meant for commercial release.
“But for now, I want to support other filmmakers, specifically Mogan Selvakannu and Deepak Kumaran Menon, who also have films they want to make through crowdfunding.”
To other filmmakers who want to finance their projects through crowdfunding, Amir said: “Be prepared to get WhatsApp blue ticks when you send reminders to those who ‘promised’ to give, unfortunately.
“But aside from that, be transparent about how much you need and what sort of movie you want to make. There is still a lot for us all to learn, so be prepared for mistakes too,” he said. - Mkini
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