Preserving cinematic heritage
15 July 2023
Suffolk House, Penang
Film is a medium that brings compelling images, sounds and stories to audiences, giving us the ability to travel beyond the physical location of where we are when we watch a film. In this process, the film fixes images of the world in our minds.
One way filmmakers might accomplish this is by outsourcing film production to a foreign location, known as 'runaway film production'. In Malaysia, this has led to the recurring use of particular heritage houses as sets in various international film and television projects. Carcosa Seri Negara in Kuala Lumpur and the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang were used to stand in as Singapore in Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and the UK produced The Singapore Grip (2020). Individually, they appear in a variety of international productions, such as the Chinese production of The Little Nyonya (2020), shot in Carcosa Seri Negara, and the Taiwanese-Malaysian Netflix series The Ghost Bride (2020), shot in the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion.
Dr Chrishandra Sebastiampillai, a Film, Television and Screen Studies lecturer in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Monash University Malaysia, is researching Malaysian heritage and cinemas. As part of this research, she is investigating the two heritage houses mentioned above to discover how they are used by various international filmmakers and presented on screen to the audience. She is also interested in the relationship between the runaway film production industry, stakeholders of heritage and the houses, and the film-induced tourism to these houses resulting from being featured in international productions.
During this research, she was inspired to look at another aspect of Malaysian heritage and film – the remaining heritage or standalone cinemas in Malaysia. Dating back as early as the still active Coliseum constructed in the Art Deco style in 1920, these buildings are fast disappearing in urban spaces as mall multiplexes replace them as the desired venue to go to the movies. Outside larger cities, some lie vacant or have been repurposed into showrooms, supermarkets or snooker halls. Part of a larger project on the Sustainability and Conservation of Cinematic Heritage in Malaysia, this research also documents the memories of audiences and the historical experience of cinemagoing in Malaysia, funded by Monash University Malaysia.
Both projects are inspired by a desire to preserve Malaysia's cinematic heritage and understand how Malaysian history and culture intersect with film. At the centre of this is the current dilapidated state of Carcosa Seri Negara, which needs urgent attention to preserve a building of great importance to Malaysia. It shouldn't suffer the same fate as the Pavilion and Cathay cinemas in Kuala Lumpur, which were demolished and turned into parking lots.
The projects also reflect the personal experiences of the researcher. "I was inspired when I worked on two occasions in Carcosa Seri Negara, once as a production assistant for a commercial shoot set in the house. I also realise that I have very different memories and experiences of going to the cinema than my students do – my childhood holds memories of movies at the KL Rex and the State and Paramount theatres in Petaling Jaya".
Dr Sebastiampillai shares, "My hope is for sustainable development in Malaysia through safeguarding the heritage locations that the audience travels to through films, as well as the heritage cinemas that they once could and still can watch films in. Films have the power to transport us to new worlds, both on screen and in reality. By celebrating our cinematic heritage and conserving the locations that captivate audiences, we can foster sustainable development and create a bridge between the past and the future."