Cinema One Originals’s “Imburnal” has suffered another setback after the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) disapproved for the third time its showing.

MTRCB cited the film’s “objectionable presentation” of abject poverty in Barangay Matina Aplaya in Davao City. The board’s decision came ahead of the movie’s scheduled showing at Robinsons Galleria’s Indie Sine on Tuesday.

Unfazed, producer Ronald Arguelles, Cinema One Channel head, and director Sherad Anthony Sanchez said they are set to submit a new version of the film on Monday.

“First thing in the morning, we will submit the new version so that we can catch up with our screening on Tuesday. I hope it will pass the board this time,” Arguelles said.

He added: “Kailangang mapanood ng mga tao ang isang magandang pelikula. Hindi ito dapat itinatago kaya gumawa kami ng paraan para makapasa na ito.”

Imburnal had a series of re-editing because of MTRCB’s decisions as well as to cut its five-hour running time.

MRTCB initially classified Imburnal unfit for viewing when it was scheduled to be shown at the Dekada Cinemanila International Film Festival in November.

The board thumbed down the film again during its second review, forcing Arguelles and Sanchez to re-edit Imburnal.

Arguelles and Sanchez want to retain and capture the original message of the story, which is the liberation of the poor people and development of the countryside.

“We will not settle for an R-18 because we want that the major audience can watch this masterpiece. It’s really our pride to show this. We aren’t afraid to show realities of life. It is art. It is the privilege of the people to see it and judge for themselves the virtue of the movie,” said Arguelles.

Imburnal is a story of two boys who live in sewers and their youthful encounters that push them to manhood. It is set in rural Davao city squalor. It stars real life residents of the area.

The film won the best picture award in the recently concluded 2008 Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival.