On October 3, the festival’s organisers conveyed their ambition to show the movie by local filmmaker Amir Muhammad. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — The government has rejected the proposal by organisers to show the banned Lelaki Komunis Terakhir movie at the ongoing Cooler Lumpur festival.

In a letter shared online by organiser Umapagan Ampikaipakan, a Film Censorship Board official said the ban previously enforced in 2006 remained in effect.

“As such, in line with the prohibition, you are hereby informed that the screening of Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is not allowed,” the official with the Home Ministry division said.

On October 3, the festival’s organisers conveyed their ambition to show the movie by local filmmaker Amir Muhammad.

The movie is billed as a “semi-musical documentary” drawing elements from the life of Chin Peng, the late leader of the defunct Communist Party of Malaya.

Communism remains taboo in Malaysia due to the violence from the Malayan Emergency, when security forces clashed with insurgents led by, among others, Chin Peng.

Official records put the death toll from the insurgency as 6,710 communist guerrilla fighters, 1,345 Malayan troops and over 5,000 civilians killed.