Despite being initially slated to hit cinemas nationwide today, the controversial local movie ‘The New Village' has yet to receive the green light from the Film Censorship Board.

The film's producer, Edward Tee, said he was upset and disappointed over the failure of the authorities to update him on the outcome of the board's second review of the film.

The New Village "When I ask them (Censorship Board officials) how long I should wait (for the result), they keep telling me that they don't know," he told Malaysiakini when contacted yesterday.

"In fact, we just need an answer - either the movie is banned or its release is delayed. We don't want to wait for nothing," he said.

The movie's release was postponed following complaints by several right-wing quarters, including Umno Youth exco member Lokman Adam, that the movie "glorified communism" .

The filmmakers however denied the allegations, describing ‘The New Village' as a "period feature film" in Mandarin depicting a "forbidden love story".

Second review

Following the controversy, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the screening of the film was put off pending further review of the film by the Censorship Board, although the latter had approved the film last year.

The New Village Tee said the incident had affected the morale of those in the local film industry.

He argued that filmmakers should be given space and freedom to express their creativity and imagination.

Tee revealed that several foreign movie distributors had contacted him on the possibility of releasing ‘The New Village' outside of Malaysia.

Asked if he would accept the offers, Tee said his team would wait for the Film Censorship Board's final decision as they believed that the movie's world premiere should be in Malaysia.