KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 — Accused of glorifying communism, local Chinese film “The New Village” is one step closer to getting an official answer from the Home Ministry as to its fate on the silver screen.

The Film Censorship Board (LPF) has finally submitted its report to the ministry, after taking over a month to review the made-in-Malaysia film for the second time.

“We have presented the report to the minister,” LPF chairman Raja Azhar Raja Abdul Manap said, referring to Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The Home Ministry holds the authority to ban “The New Village” or give it a new screening date.

But it is unclear when the Home Ministry will deliver its decision, with Raja Azhar saying that the minister’s office had yet to provide feedback on the report.

Raja Azhar told The Malay Mail Online that its report contained the board’s second review of the film itself, as well as comments from the public.

The role of LPF, which is also under the same ministry, is to set guidelines and reviewing films.

Although the public had yet to view the film, as “The New Village” was suspended before it could make its theatrical debut, Raja Azhar noted there were already comments on the movie.

He said LPF had also met the movie’s makers to verify some facts, and added that the producers were informed that the decision was now in the Home Ministry’s court.

Last Thursday, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad appeared to back calls for the government to screen “The New Village” when saying that it should receive the same treatment as “Tanda Putera”, another local film that has attracted controversy.

“If they want to ban Tanda Putera, they should ban both movies.

“If they want to show the movie, they should show both. Then, people can make up their minds,” the influential politician was quoted saying by The Star daily.

A Mandarin film directed by local award-winning director Wong Kew-Lit, “The New Village” was initially slated for release on August 22.

On July 28, Ahmad Zahid said the screening of “The New Village” would be suspended, with its new release date to be decided after a second review of the film’s plot.

But he also said the government could cancel its prior approval for the film if the censorship board — which comes under his ministry — finds that it contains elements of hero-worship of the Malayan Communist Party (PKM).

On July 29, Raja Azhar had said the film was initially approved by the censorship board because it passed its guidelines, but said they would have to “double check” the film’s message in light of the accusations.

“From the aspect of the guidelines, the film was approved because it passed all our guidelines such as free from issues of public peace, safety, religion and race relations,” he had said, adding that the board did not find any elements of excessive violence or dialogue that were hurtful to race relations.”

Astro Shaw and Yellow Pictures, the joint producers of the film, had described it as a “Chinese period feature film” depicting a “forbidden love story”, which was set during the resettlement of the Chinese communities into new villages by the British.

The relocation by the colonial British government then had been aimed at preventing the Chinese villagers from aiding the Malayan Communist Party, either willingly or unwillingly.

The furore over a 2.20-minute trailer of “The New Village” moved other filmmakers to express disappointment with the irrationality that met attempts to retell the nation’s history in ways that differ from what far-right elements consider “official”.