POLICE officers from Bukit Aman had viewed the film The Last Communist before the Film Censorship Board (FCB) issued its letter upholding a 12-year ban on the screening of the documentary in Malaysia.

Organisers of the Cooler Lumpur Festival had requested for the film to be screened tomorrow.

However,  the FCB said yesterday the ban was still in force, referring to a letter from the Home Ministry dated May 5, 2006, and addressed to the documentary’s producer, Red Films Sdn Bhd.

Festival director Hardesh Singh said the documentary was shown to officials from the Communications and Multimedia Ministry as well as several police officers last Thursday.

“After it was screened, they informed us of their decision,” Hardesh told The Malaysian Insight.

“Last night, at about 7pm, I received the letter from FCB,” he said.

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, but comprises a series of interviews with urban Malaysians of all backgrounds who have links to Chin Peng’s life journey.

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

The censorship board’s response to the organisers was uploaded on the Cooler Lumpur Festival Facebook page today.

Hardesh said the organisers had proposed a screening of the film as the original conditions for the ban were vague.

He said all officers in the film industry including those in government agencies need to understand that with new technology, authorities could no longer control and censor content. – October 6, 2018.