Having survived the scissors of the Film Censorship Board, Amir Muhammad's musical documentary, The Last Communist (Lelaki Komunis Terakhir) has been slapped with a ban from the Home Affairs Ministry.

In a faxed notice to the film's production house Red Films yesterday afternoon, the ministry said that the ban was to guard "public interest".

This comes in the wake of daily articles in Malay-daily Berita Harian since May 3, criticising Amir and his film. On May 5, an article questioned why Amir did not document Malay historical figures instead.

The Last Communist chronicles the life of ex-communist leader in exile Chin Peng. Screening across the country was to start on May 18, despite strong resistence from certain parties.

Historical film

When contacted, a spokesperson for Red Films said that her company would definitely appeal for the ministry to lift the ban as Amir had worked very hard to produce the film.

"We are willing to hold discussions with the ministry and screen the movie to the authorities. After all, this film is about history. We are not trying to glorify anyone," said the spokesperson who requested anonymity.

She added that Red Film could not comment further as Amir is overseas.

The film was premiered at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival-Forum in February this year, and has since been screened at 11 film festivals across the world.