Being the biggest winner at the 23rd Malaysian Film Festival by winning five different categories including Best Film, "Magika" the first local musical feature film have boosted up Edry Abdul Halim's confidence in bringing his directorial feature to another level in the local movie scene. This time, the director takes a bigger leap for himself and KRU Studios by presenting "29 Februari" with 3D technology. Starring Remy Ishak and Jojo Goh, the movie is the first ever 3D stereoscopic film that's made in Malaysia. Cinema Online was able to grab a chance to talk with the visionary filmmaker regarding his new movie. Cinema Online interview with Edry Abdul Halim conducted on 28 August at TGV Sunway Pyramid. Q: Hi, Edry. Congratulations for presenting the first ever Malaysian-made 3D stereoscopic film. What made you produce a 3D film? Edry: The filming technology is advancing each day and now 3D is something that is getting more and more common in movies. 3D allows us to watch a movie with better quality in graphics. I think it's time for the Malaysian audience to watch a local-made 3D film apart from other foreign 3D films. We learnt our lessons from "Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa", "Cicak-Man" and "Magika". We accept criticisms all the time just to fix the weaknesses in our films. To me, "29 Februari" is a creation from our learning outcome. It marks our first step for more 3D movies in the future. Q: What is the most challenging part of filming this movie? Edry: It took us a great effort to do research for the historical events that we can use to portray the story. From the A to Z list, we eventually choose to set the story from the year 1896 to 2012 by highlighting remarkable incidents that changed our country, including the Japanese Occupation and Independence Day.
Q: One of the most attractive scenes in the film is the announcement of Independence by our first prime minister. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Edry: I gained the footage from the National Archive of Malaysia. It's original. But unfortunately the visual qualities of the footages are very bad and they are deteriorating. We want to present the originality of those moments to the moviegoers. So, in this case, the 3D technology plays a crucial role to help us bring in a new life to those old footages. Q: Do you have anything to say to your fans? Edry: I hope they could come to the cinema to support our new piece. We have a bunch of great cast like Remy Ishak and Jojo Goh in this wonderful Malaysian-themed story. I can't tell you how great the 3D effects are, you should come to experience them yourself. Q: Thank you, Edry. Edry: Thank you, Cinema Online.