18 Aug – The 26th Malaysian Film Festival (FFM 26) which will be taking place this year sees a fierce competition between the two films "Penanggal", directed by Ellie Suriaty and "Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil", directed by Kabir Bhatia. As reported on mStar, according to the announcement made by National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), "Penanggal" managed to garner 15 nominations whereas "Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil" managed to earn 12. A total of 112 works were submitted for the 24 categories including the Best Non-Malay Language Local Film category. Local films that qualify for nominations are based on works released from October 2012 until December 2013. FINAS Chairman Datuk Md Afendi Hamdan assured that to ensure transparency, all the final results by the jury were submitted to the National Audit Department for the final calculation and verification of scores. The chairman announced the top five nominees of FFM 26, which has the theme "Malaysian Cinema Transformation" this year, at the event held by FINAS last Friday. FFM26 was scheduled to take place on 20 August 2014 but it has been postponed to a later date that is yet to be announced, out of respect for the MH370 and MH17 tragedies. Below is the full list of the final nominees for FFM 26: BEST FILM 1. "KIL" (Primeworks Studios) 2. "KL Gangster 2" (Skop Productions / Primeworks Studios) 3. "Penanggal" (Astro Shaw / Primeworks Studios) 4. "Rock Oo" (Primeworks Studios) 5. "Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil" (Primeworks Studios) BEST NON-MALAY LANGUAGE LOCAL FILM 1. "Dhusrajanam" (Genius Parade) 2. "The Wedding Diary 2" (Asia Tropical Films) 3. "Paper Moon" (Double Vision / Astro Shaw / Passion Entertainment) 4. "The Collector" (Tayangan Unggul) 5. "The Golden Couple" (Asia Tropical Films) BEST DIRECTOR 1. Ellie Suriaty ("Penanggal") 2. Kabir Bhatia ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") 3. Mamat Khalid ("Rock Oo") 4. Nik Amir Mustapha ("KIL") 5. Syamsul Yusof ("KL Gangster 2") BEST SHORT FILM 1. "Jahit" (Reservoir Production) 2. "Cerita Satu Malam" (Nazri Mohd Annuar) 3. "Kekasih" (Diffan Sina Norman) 4. "The Pillar" (Thumbs Up Team) 5. "Mimpi Mah Meri" (Yu Chee Boon) BEST ANIMATION FILM 1. "The Adventure Of Hoogie, Pinky Zero, Ali And Abu" (Fakulti Teknologi Kreatif Dan Warisan UMK) 2. "The Curse" (Thumbs Up Team) 3. "Jinggo" (El Videographics) BEST SCREENPLAY 1. Ellie Suriaty ("Penanggal") 2. Alfie Palermo ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") 3. Mamat Khalid ("Rock Oo") 4. Nik Amir Mustapha ("KIL") 5. Syamsul Yusof ("KL Gangster 2") BSET ACTOR 1. Azri Iskandar ("Penanggal") 2. Bront Palarae ("Psiko Pencuri Hati") 3. Faizal Hussein ("Longkai") 4. Rusdi Ramli ("Tanda Putera") 5. Syed Hussein ("Psiko Pencuri Hati") BEST ACTRESS 1. Diana Danielle ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") 2. Kalpana ("Dhusrajanam") 3. Lisa Surihani ("Istanbul Aku Datang") 4. Sharifah Amani ("Psiko Pencuri Hati") 5. Ummi Nazeera ("Penanggal") BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 1. Azad Jazmin ("Kolumpo") 2. Khir Rahman ("Rock Oo") 3. Dato' Rosyam Nor ("KL Gangster 2") 4. Sharnaaz Ahmad ("Juvana") 5. Zizan Nin ("Tanda Putera") BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 1. Anne James ("KIL") 2. Nell Ng ("Kolumpo") 3. Normah Damanhuri ("Penanggal") 4. Ruminah Sidek ("Kolumpo") 5. Umie Aida ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") BEST ORIGINAL STORY 1. Ellie Suriaty ("Penanggal") 2. Kabir Bhatia ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") 3. Mamat Khalid ("Rock Oo") 4. Amin Shakib ("Psiko Pencuri Hati") 5. Fadzil Zahari ("Tokan") BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 1. S.Y Chong ("KIL") 2. Haris Hue Abdullah ("Istanbul Aku Datang") 3. Raja Mukhriz ("Penanggal") 4. Filus Ghazali ("Tanda Putera") 5. Norhanisham Muhammad ("Semunyi: Amukan Azazil") BEST EDITOR 1. Rewan Ishak ("KIL") 2. Wong Hui Lynn ("Istanbul Aku Datang") 3. Akashdeep Singh ("Penanggal") 4. Syamsul Yusof / Hisyam Jupri ("KL Gangster 2") 5. Adilan Azemi ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil) BEST ORIGINAL SONG SCORE 1. Sharon Paul ("Tanda Putera") 2. Bell Foo / JT Ng ("Papermoon") 3. Nik Mustaza Nik Mustapha ("Tokan") 4. Hafiz Hamidun ("KL Gangster 2") 5. Hafiz Hamidun ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") BEST ARTS 1. Rewan Ishak ("KIL") 2. Zahid Othman ("Rock Oo") 3. Nazrul Asraff ("Penanggal") 4. Aida Fitri Buyong / Kamarul Nizam ("Tanda Putera") 5. Mazalan Zulkifli ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") BEST SOUND MIXING 1. Mohsin Othman ("KIL") 2. Mohd Rashid Othman ("Rock Oo") 3. Adzrey Abdul Kamal ("Penanggal") 4. Syamsul Yusof / Hisyam Jupri ("KL Gangster 2") 5. Hafiz Hamidun ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") BEST ORIGINAL THEME SONG 1. "Aku Datang" - Tomok & Rafidah Abdullah ("Istanbul Aku Datang") 2. "Tika" - Rimba Bara ("Rock Oo") 3. "Tokan" - Nik Mustaza Nik Mustapha ("Tokan") 4. "Puisi Sang Dewi" - Shamsul Cairel ("Lemak Kampung Santan") 5. "Tanda" - Sharon Paul ("Tanda Putera") RISING DIRECTOR 1. Ellie Suriaty ("Penanggal") 2. Nam Ron ("Psiko Pencuri Hati") 3. Esma Daniel ("Zaiton Ceritaku") 4. Nik Amir Mustapha ("KIL") 5. Syed Hussein ("Langgar") RISING ACTOR 1. Ahya U ("Tanda Putera") 2. Shukri Yahaya ("Ular") 3. Karl Shafek ("Zaiton Ceritaku") 4. Syazwan Zulkifli ("Juvana") 5. Zul Ariffin ("Penanggal") RISING ACTRESS 1. Cristina Suzanne ("KIL") 2. Nadia Aqilah ("Zaiton Ceritaku") 3. Nelydia Senrose ("Cinderella") 4. Siti Saleha ("Kerat 14") 5. Uqasha Senrose ("Paku Pontianak") BEST CHILD ACTOR 1. Farrah Nadiah ("Bisikan Syaitan") 2. Nur Adriana ("Bencinta") 3. Putri Balqis ("1 Lawan 1") 4. Rykarl Iskandar ("Ajiboy") 5. Ahmad Ashraff Fahmy ("Lemak Kampung Santan") BEST COSTUME DESIGN 1. Hasnan Yaccob / Fadzilah Abdullah ("Tanda Putera") 2. Akma Suriati Awang ("Rock Oo") 3. Ameen Mustajab ("Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil") 4. Sarah Lee Ann ("Kara King") 5. Nasirah Ramlan ("Penanggal") BEST VISUAL EFFECTS 1. "Tanda Putera" (Pesona Pictures) 2. "Ular" (Showbiz Productions) 3. "Husin, Mon & Jin Pakai Toncit" (Tayangan Unggul) 4. "Lemak Kampung Santan" (Tall Order Productions) 5. "Penanggal" (Astro Shaw / Primeworks Studios) BEST POSTER 1. "KIL" (Primeworks Studios) 2. "War Of The Worlds: Goliath" (Tripod Entertainment) 3. "Bencinta" (MIG Pictures) 4. "Balada Pencinta" (Primeworks Studios) 5. "Kolumpo" (Otto Film)