adminintends to take the Film and Publication Board’s ruling to the Constitutional Court.
“It is not the function of the state to moralise,” said Auret.
The board says the film was refused classification based on Section 18 (3) of the Films and Publications Act.
“The law is clear. After viewing the synopsis of the film the classification board felt it necessary to classify it.
“The 28th minute of the film depicts a child in a pornography scene,” says board spokesman Prince Ndamase.
“To screen it would constitute a crime.”
One of the main actors, Mothusi Magano, said he had received no notification that the movie would not be shown.
“There I was, sitting and waiting, and this disclaimer comes on the screen. I was gob-smacked to say the least. I felt humiliated. Though it’s a film that we managed to finish in the space of five weeks, it took four years to put together, from conception and planning to getting funding and everything else.
“It’s also such an important story. And honestly, there is nothing sinister about the film. I have no idea what scene the Film and Publication Board is referring to.
“We see worse things on our screens everyday. This here is nothing we haven’t seen. We see Lolita on TCM and that’s allowed,” said Magano.
Lolita is a 1962 comedy-drama film by Stanley Kubrick based on the classic novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov.
It centres around a middle-aged man who becomes obsessed with a teenage girl.
The manager of the film festival, Peter Machen, said that, out of respect for Qubeka, an alternative film was not shown on Thursday night but otherwise the festival will run as scheduled.
“We chose ‘Of Good Report’ because it is challenging, powerful and artistically successful and particularly because it is such a strong expression of an individual voice.
“It presents a story of a very real and troubling social problem, rampant abuse of position, in our country,” said Machen.
Professor Cheryl Potgieter, deputy vice chancellor of the University of KwaZulu Natal and curator of the festival, said: “We chose not to show another film in deference to the filmmaker and to ensure there was critical mass to carry this debate and discourse forward.”
Qubeka decided to show his displeasure at being gagged by sealing his lips with masking tape. His wife, Lwazi Manzi, a medical doctor at New Somerset Hospital, in Cape Town, spoke on his behalf.
“We will talk about it and we will engage in this conversation about Aids, gender-based violence and the disturbing phenomenon of older man preying on young girls — which the film deals with,” says Manzi.
She said she encountered the horror of young women who had been abused by older men daily at New Somerset Hospital.
“Just because (the Film and Publication Board) don’t want to see it does not mean it does not happen. I am very proud of my husband, and the cast and crew. This is a pivotal day in the history of film in our country, one which will resonate in history,” she said. — Sunday World.
Online Reporter