Malaysia's obsession with the "Malaysia Boleh" or "Malaysia Can Do It" culture has sent its citizens up Mount Everest, across the English Channel and soon into space, albeit on a Russian rocket. But in the world of credible films, this Southeast Asian country has nothing to show that can stand tall and proud like the Petronas Twin Towers.

Malaysian films, critics say, are sorry affairs - shoddy tearjerkers build around love-triangle storylines and lately on the perennial "crime does not pay" and "beware of drugs and HIV/AIDS" themes.

Last year, the government stepped in to correct the imbalance with a special fund for high-quality movies that would allow local directors to make quality flicks, without worry of money, to dazzle the world, win awards at international film festivals and make the country stand tall.