THE Last Communist, banned 12 years ago by the now-ousted Barisan Nasional government, has yet to see the light of day in Malaysia.

The Film Censorship Board (FCB), responding to organisers of the Cooler Lumpur Festival, who wrote in a request to screen the documentary at the event in Kuala Lumpur this weekend, yesterday said the ban is still in force.

The board referred to a letter from the Home Ministry, dated May 5, 2006, and addressed to the documentary’s producer, Red Films Sdn Bhd.

“As such, and in line with the ban, the screening of the film The Last Communist is still prohibited,” said the FCB response letter, which was sighted by The Malaysian Insight.

The letter was signed by FCB secretary Yusniza Yusuf and addressed to Cooler Lumpur Festival 2018 director Hardesh Singh.

The Malaysian Insight has contacted Hardesh for comments, and is awaiting a response.

The Last Communist director Amir Muhammad, when contacted last night, confirmed the FCB letter.

He described The Last Communist as a travel or semi-musical documentary that does not focus on Chin Peng, the head of the banned Communist Party of Malaya.

The 90-minute film comprises a series of interviews with urban Malaysians of all backgrounds who have links to Chin Peng’s life journey. The interviews are interspersed with melodies that mimic the tempo and tone of propaganda songs.

The Last Communist has been screened at 20 film festivals overseas, including in Berlin, Singapore, London, Seattle and San Francisco.

Twelve years ago, FCB had approved the documentary for public viewing, but the BN administration put a stop to it 10 days later, shortly before it was scheduled for screening in May 2006.

This came after Malay newspaper Berita Harian criticised the production and screening approval. The daily had interviewed Malaysians to get their views on the film, and those who criticised the documentary had not even seen it.

The paper, in a series of reports that quoted historians and film-makers who accused Amir of fanning communism and promoting the communist ideology, pressed the government to ban The Last Communist.

The film’s “unclear” status is the reason why Cooler Lumpur Festival organisers had sought to screen it. The festival, which is in its sixth year, has chosen the theme “Ctrl-Alt-Del” for 2018.

“We believe the film was unfairly criticised simply because of its title, and not one of its critics had even watched it. On these grounds, we would like to screen the film,” Hardesh said in a statement earlier this week.

Prior to receiving the FCB letter, the organisers had sought permission from the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) and police’s Special Branch.

At the time, the authorities were not aware of the status of The Last Communist.

When the ban was announced more than a decade ago, then opposition leaders had said there was no valid reason to prevent the film from being screened.

Former culture, arts and heritage minister Rais Yatim in 2006 said there was nothing controversial about The Last Communist. However, he left it to the Home Ministry, then headed by Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, to decide on the matter.

Rais made the remarks after watching the documentary at Finas with several MPs on May 21 that year. The screening was done at the request of Lim Kit Siang, the opposition leader at the time.

Among those who attended the special screening were Ipoh Timur MP M. Kulasegaran, Segambut MP Teresa Kok and former PAS secretary-general Kamaruddin Jaafar, who is now with PKR.

They are now members of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s cabinet in the new Pakatan Harapan government. – October 6, 2018.