Malaysia Film Festivals 28 (FFM28) decision to segregate nominees for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay is just to promote Bahasa Malaysia.

National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) Director General Datuk Kamil Othman told The MalayMailOnline that the FFM28's decision did not mean Ola Bola and Jagat are not on equal footing with other locally-made films, as claimed by many.

"It has nothing to do with one is better than the other,” Kamil told the portal, adding that FFM has always been about films in the official language and the non-official language.

“But generally the two categories of best films are judged based on how good the stories are. They are only divided by the language only because it has always been about the official language,” he told the portal.

This year, the FFM28's nominees for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay were segregated into Bahasa Malaysia films and non-Bahasa Malaysia films.

A nominee for FFM28 awards for the category of Best Cinematography, Mohd Noor Kassim announced his decision to withdraw from the prestigious award.

Nominated for his work for the film ‘Bravo 5’, Mohd Noor announced his decision on his Facebook page, Friday night.

“I, Mohd Noor Kassim, have officially decided to pull out as a nominee for the FFM28. It is not that I am afraid to compete, but I reject any racial elements,” he wrote.

Actor and director Afdlin Shauki have also voiced out his intention of boycotting FFM28.

READ: FFM28: Boycott begins? Best Cinematographer nominee pulls out from race

He said the decision was due to the unfairness in the categories that are being introduced this year.