Gerakan has urged the government in the spirit of merdeka to be more open-minded and reconsider its decision to disallow the public screening of the locally-made film ‘Gadoh’ , which has yet to obtain approval from the Control and Film Censorship division under the Home Ministry.

Gerakan’s National Unity Bureau chief Dr Asharuddin Ahmad said that there ought to be a clear guidelines and transparent process on this, as long as the contents of the movie were not extreme in nature or too violent, the government should allow the screening.

“In line with 1Malaysia concept, the government should encourage and promote locally-made movies with positive messages like muhibah, unity and etc,” he said in a statement.

Newspapers had reported that the movie was banned as it was deemed to be a threat to public order.

Asharuddin reiterated Gerakan’s stand that the government should facilitate and not frustrate the development of local creative talents and industries.

According to the official movie synopsis, ‘Gadoh” tells the story of a group of teenagers who fought each other along racial lines; a cycle of hatred and violence further escalated by their environment and school system.