PETALING JAYA, March 14 ― Film and television producer, director and actor Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri has been announced by the Communications and Multimedia Ministry as the new chief executive officer of the National Film Development Corporation (Finas).

In a media statement, Minister Gobind Singh Deo announced the 45-year-old would fill the position for a period of two years, which came into effect Monday, March 11.

A screenshot of the announcement of Ahmad Idham’s appointment by Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

"Ahmad Idham Nadzri is an Accountancy degree holder from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and has expertise and experience in the creative industry for more than 25 years as well as having set records and received multiple local and international awards.

"The Ministry hopes the new chief executive officer will serve the efforts of Finas to continue building the industry. I also hope Finas board members will give their full cooperation to Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri in executing the changes based on the direction of the government.”

The reactions to the appointment on social media were swift.

The outspoken and controversial director’s last film in 2017’s Pencuri Hati Mr Cinderella was a major flop, raking in only RM18,865 at the box office, which sparked a war of words when he hit out at critics of his work.

He had mocked and dismissed brickbats in claiming his detractors had no experience or qualifications to judge him.

This prompted Malaysians on social media to trash his films, as Ahmad Idham continued to  lash out at "haters”.

He had then also blamed the country’s economy for the poor ticket sales, as movie buffs continued to hit out at him for his films being mediocre or simply  "trashy” as well as behind the times as the reasons for his films’ failures.