I have a bottom drawer full of documentary ideas many of which may never see the light of day because they cannot pass the Malaysian sensitive test and are too local for an international audience. Their ideal place would be a domestic current affairs or social documentary slot. I believe that there is an enormous hunger for intelligent, investigative, domestic documentary. The problem is not the audience, it s the self-censoring broadcasters. Money is always a problem.
Documentary production is expensive but the return comes from advertising.
And advertising dollars are a function of viewership figures. I believe that domestic documentaries will command a high audience if they tackle issues that are of interest to Malaysians and stops insulting their intelligence. Guardians of the Forest will undoubtedly inform and alert a huge proportion of its audience - the asli story is so little known. Mak Minah was a friend and one of just over a hundred thousand Orang Asli who continue to be told that their reality has no place in Malaysia s vision for the future. Being supreme optimists we hope the documentary will help bring about change.