The cast and crew of "Jagat" at FFM 28.

4 Sep – Malaysian Tamil drama "Jagat" has been named Best Film at the 28th Malaysian Film Festival (FFM 28) yesterday, 3 September 2016 held at the Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).

The film also won Best New Director award via the young and talented director Shanjhey Kumar Perumal.

"We feel happy because this is a national level recognition, and we see this as an opportunity to reach more Malaysians because we want to share the story," said the director to Cinema Online.

"But Jagat haven't fully reached the Malaysians yet because we released in cinemas with very limited screenings. So, after this we are going for online release or premiere it on video-on-demand services," the director added.

"Jagat" director Sanjhey Kumar receiving his award.

After much controversy regarding the language segregation, FINAS has decided to make a few changes to the categories.

Thanks to the changes, a non-Malay film has finally won the Best Film category for the very first time.

"We look at it as a process. In any decision there will pros and cons, that's why we decided not to pull out from the nomination because we want to be in the process, and we hope that in the future there will be only one category," answered the "Jagat" director when asked about the changes for this year's FFM.

Meanwhile, the new Best National Film award was given to "Munafik" which also won the most awards at FFM 28 including Best Director, Best Editing, Best Actress via Nabila Huda, and Best Sound Mixing.

Nabila Huda won Best Actress award for her role in "Munafik".

"Polis Evo" and "Ola Bola" followed closely behind with a total of four awards each.

The former won Box Office Film award, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor, and Special Jury award, while the latter won Best Costume Design, Best Original Theme Song, Best Original Score, and also received a Special Jury award.

Hosted by comedians Nabil Ahmad and Sherry Alhadad once again, the prestigious ceremony saw performances from Dayang Nurfaizah, Jaclyn Victor, Man Bai, Aizat, Tomok, Bunkface, Ernie Zakri, Dewi Seriestha and Back to Basixx.

Here is the complete winner list from the main FFM 28 awards ceremony:

Box Office Film – "Polis Evo"

Best Editing – "Munafik" (Syamsul Yusof)

Best Child Actor – Tan Qin Lin ("The Kid from the Big Apple")

Best Original Story – "Mat Moto: Kami Bukan Mat Rempit" (Pekin Ibrahim)

Best Cinematography – "Polis Evo" (Haris Hue Abdullah)

Best New Actress – Falisha Crossley ("Mat Moto: Kami Bukan Mat Rempit")

Best New Actor – Adam Shahz ("Juvana 2: Terperangkap Dalam Kebebasan")

Best New Director – Shanjhey Kumar Perumal ("Jagat")

Best Screen Play – "Nota" (Bea Tanaka)

Special Jury Award – "Ola Bola"

Special Jury Award – "Polis Evo"

Special Jury Award – "The Kid from the Big Apple"

Best Supporting Actress – Fauziah Dato' Ahmad Daud ("Langit Cinta")

Best Supporting Actor – Hushair Hussain ("Polis Evo")

Best Animated Film – "Boboiboy The Movie" (Animonsta Studios Sdn Bhd)

Best Actress – Nabila Huda ("Munafik")

Best Actor – Pekin Ibrahim ("Mat Moto: Kami Bukan Mat Rempit")

Artiste of the Century – Tuan Haji Deddy M Borhan

Best Director – Syamsul Yusof ("Munafik")

Best Film – "Jagat" (Skyzen (M) Sdn Bhd)

Best National Film – "Munafik" (Skop Productions Sdn Bhd)

The following is the winner list from the FFM28 officiating ceremony:

Best Costume Design – "Ola Bola" (Elaine Ng & Wing Shum)

Best Art Arrangement – "Huat the Fish" (Wong Jee Meng & Nick Wong)

Best Special Effect – "Cicak Man" (Yusry Abdul Halim)

Best Sound Mixing – "Munafik" (Imaginex Studio Sdn Bhd)

Best Original Theme Song – "Ola Bola" (Zee Avi – "Arena Cahaya")

Best Original Score – "Ola Bola" (Onn San & Alex San)

Best Short Film – "RM 10" (Entropy Studios Sdn Bhd)

Best Short Animated Film – "Ejen Ali" (Wau Animation)

Best Documentary Film – "Boat People" (Dosfellas Sdn Bhd)

Behind-the-Scenes Advocate Award – Encik Mohd Noor Tagaya