Fed up filmmaker fights scams with art

Daily Express

18-05-2025

Fed up filmmaker fights scams with art
IN an age where online scams claim new victims daily, one Malaysian filmmaker is fighting back through the power of cinema.
Denil Choong Lin Loong, who goes by the name Captain Denil, has found his calling not in creating typical action blockbusters, but in producing films that both entertain and potentially save viewers from becoming victims of increasingly sophisticated online fraud.
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He was recently in Kota Kinabalu, scouting locations for his upcoming anti-scam movie 'Polis Action Silent Code'.
'The main purpose of my visit is actually to explore Sabah, which is a very beautiful State and an excellent place to scout locations and fresh talents for my upcoming movie projects,' he told Daily Express in a recent exclusive interview.
'This is not my first time in Sabah. I came here 10 years ago. There is such a big difference between then and now,' he said.
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Denil believes a movie must prioritise entertainment first.
'When we want to incorporate educational value into films, we cannot use a teaching approach,' he said.
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This philosophy forms the foundation of his unexpected success with 'Oppa' his first anti-scam film which premiered last year, that not only connected with Malaysian audiences but went on to win two international awards at the Macau International Film Festival in 2024, namely Best Foreign Language Film Actor award and the Best Malaysian Film award. The movie is about online love scams. The film explores the dangers of love scams, focusing on a teacher who is targeted by a love scammer posing as a charming South Korean man.
The film, which is done in collaboration with Royal Malaysian Police's Commercial Crime Investigation Department, is based on real data from the police and aims to raise awareness about these types of online scams.
'I still remember when I won two awards in Macau, one of the judges said to me, 'Wow, so many languages and various races represented in one movie.
'Additionally, all the police officers in this movie are real police. They (judges) never thought our police could act like this. That is why we won Best Foreign Language,' he said.
What makes Denil's approach unique is his focus on creating films that leave impressions through entertaining storytelling rather than dry educational content.
By incorporating plot twists and emotional storylines, he ensures viewers absorb anti-scam information without feeling lectured.
'I want to point out that my movie is not about the action sequences, but about humanity,' he said, explaining the motivation behind his creative choices.
The inspiration for Denil's first anti-scam movie came from real events that caught his attention during the Covid-19 pandemic.
'During the pandemic, I saw a news about a lady who was holding a photo which read 'I got scammed',' he said.
'Then two months later, another lady was also scammed. I became curious, why are women so easily scammed? Why?' he said.
This curiosity led him to research love scams, a journey that eventually connected him with the Royal Malaysian Police.
The collaboration proved fruitful, with police officials providing real case studies and technical guidance that would form the backbone of his film.
For his second film, 'Polis Action Silent Code' Denil focused on investment scams, which he notes are considered the number one scam in Malaysia and a growing problem worldwide.
The film incorporates elements from Thailand and Indonesia, featuring how these criminal operations often cross national boundaries.
'All this information about investment scams and the analysis come from our police. We did not create this ourselves,' he said, pointing out the authenticity that makes his films both entertaining and educational.
The international collaboration further strengthened the film's realism.
'When we went to Thailand to work with the Thai production team, they also noted many scam cases happening in Thailand.
'They brought up numerous real cases that occurred there. That is why we combined elements from several countries into the scam story,' he said.
Perhaps surprisingly, Denil's primary target audience is not older adults who might seem most vulnerable to scams, but rather younger generations.
'My main audience is actually the new generation, like students. They may not have a lot of money to be scammed now, but they can gain awareness through the movies,' he said.
This forward-thinking approach focuses on prevention rather than cure, with focus on secondary school students whose developing critical thinking skills make them receptive to important safety messages.
'Secondary school students have minds that are a bit more mature compared to primary school students.
'Many secondary school students start using dating apps and exploring everything online. So, focusing on secondary school students is most important,' he said.
One challenge in creating films about digital scams is making invisible online crimes visually convincing.
Denil addresses this by creating tangible representations of virtual threats.
In 'Oppa' for example, viewers see what appears to be a real romantic interest who later turns out to be merely a figment of the victim's imagination, a clever visual metaphor for the false personas created by love scams.
'The police often questioned me before watching the movie, 'How can the love scammer or the Oppa exist?' But after they watch the movie, they realise Oppa never existed. It was just the victim's imagination,' Denil said.
'Why do we want to make movies so exciting about this topic? Like in 'Oppa' we included a plot twist. Nowadays, people do not want to watch movies when they already know the ending. That is why people like plot twists,' he said.
'There must be a chance for growth, a chance to come back and become a better person. The ending is never just dark with everyone failing,' he added.
Unlike typical Malaysian productions that might rely on famous faces to attract audiences, Denil took a different approach with 'Oppa' conducting open auditions to find new talent.
'I do not want people to focus solely on the artists' faces. When artists are very famous, everybody just looks at them and does not concentrate on the story,' he said.
As a hands-on filmmaker, Denil is involved in various aspects of production, including scriptwriting. However, he values collaboration over solo creative control.
'Yes, I am a scriptwriter, but I do not want every script to be written only by me. I want to discuss ideas with my scriptwriting team and also scriptwriters from other countries. I want their special elements and magic moments.
'If every movie is just done by Captain Denil with no surprises, maybe the first one will be surprising, but by the third, fourth or fifth, it might become boring. New elements come from the team,' he said.
Working closely with police advisors, including his project producer and film advisor from the Police Commercial Crime Investigation Department and his project advisors like Dr. Peter Chua and Eliza Leong, Denil ensures the scenarios depicted in his films reflect current scam methods while providing practical prevention strategies.
This technical accuracy is maintained without compromising artistic integrity.
'I actually do not include product placement,' Denil said when asked about financing his films. Normally, if you include product placement, I think it will spoil the movie.
My first movie never had product placement. But of course, we need to explain this approach to our sponsors and investors,' he said.
For Denil, success is not measured solely in ticket sales but in changed behaviours and saved potential victims.
'After the premiere, after listening to feedback from the audience, they said, 'I understand the meaning of the movie.' After that, we received many hall bookings. People who watched the movie booked the hall again for their family members, colleagues and even orphans to watch the movie,' he said.
'We want to make movies for people to remember, not just for fun. When people recall my movie, it means they liked my movie,' he said.
While 'Polis Action Silent Code' focuses on investment scams and the growing threat of AI-facilitated fraud, Denil does not plan to make endless sequels about scammers.
Instead, he hopes his first two films will reduce scam cases, allowing him to address other social issues.
'For my second movie, I chose to focus on AI and investment scams because these are currently the most dangerous scam cases around the world.
'We will move on to other social issues like cyberbullying in my next movie,' he said, adding that other concepts in development include 'Spirit of Borneo' (a musical project suggested by Dr. Peter Chua) and 'Prison to Hero,' which would highlight the rehabilitation of former inmates through music.
The 'Spirit of Borneo' project is particularly close to Peter's heart.
'I have requested Denil to assist me in creating a musical movie under the auspicious name 'The Spirit of Borneo,'' Peter said.
'I have completed the script and selected several original songs. The concept follows two Westerners who discover an orangutan in Borneo and transport it to New York, with musical performances at every stop along their journey through Singapore, India and South Africa,' he added.
This diverse slate of projects all share a common thread using entertainment as a vehicle for social good.
As Denil puts it, 'Movies are not just entertainment. When you watch a movie, any conflict presented also has a solution.'
While his primary motivation is educational, Denil acknowledges the necessity of financial sustainability.
When asked if these movies are profitable or purely driven by passion, he takes a balanced view.
'In the long term, they must be profitable. For the first movie, 'Oppa' our primary intention was education and awareness. We told the police this from the beginning and they understood our intention.
'But of course, we need to incorporate some commercial value as well. Commercial value does not mean eliminating educational value, it is about adding elements from Thailand and Indonesia so audiences from more countries will support the film. It is about finding balance,' he said.
Through his work with scam prevention experts, Denil has developed personal strategies for staying safe online.
While acknowledging that people cannot escape from using online services,' he points out the importance of verification tools and behavioural changes.
'We must be more careful when answering calls. We can use apps like TrueCall or WhosCall for added protection when receiving calls,' he said.
In the post-pandemic world, he noticed a shift in attitudes toward online interaction.
'Most importantly, I think nowadays people are more likely to prefer face-to-face interactions, which can be more secure compared to purely online communications.
During the pandemic, we relied on Zoom meetings and video calls, but now people are moving away from these methods,' he said.
But perhaps the most valuable insight from Denil's films is understanding the psychological vulnerability that makes scams effective, greed.
'Greed is one of the main reasons people get scammed. But why does this still happen? Because greed never disappears,' he said.
'It is actually quite simple. I have gone through many articles and news stories. People already know about scams, but they just do not want to accept this reality.
'They always think they are smart enough to avoid being scammed.
'So, I think movies can help address issues like greed, which is one of the main reasons people get scammed,' he said.
His advice to aspiring filmmakers is to stay true to authentic Malaysian storytelling.
'Malaysia is a very special country, rich with many races and multicultural elements. We have many beautiful stories. Do not simply copy and paste from international story themes,' he said.