AnAustralianfilmboardhasbannedaCanadianmoviefeaturing"gayzombieporn"fromscreeningattheMelbourneInternationalFilmFestival--tothedelightofthefilmmaker.
TheAustralianFilmClassificationBoardtoldfestivalorganizersnottoshow"L.A.Zombie"directedbyCanadianBruceLaBruceasitwouldrefuseclassificationforthefilmfeaturingalienzombiesscouringLosAngelesfordeadbodiesandgaysex.
TheMelbourneInternationalFilmFestival'sExecutiveDirectorRichardMooresaidLaBruce'sfilmcouldbedeemedcontroversialbutitwasasurprisethattheboardrefusedtoallowthefestivaltoshowthefilmasplannedonAugust7and8.
"Idon'tnecessarilythinkit'sporn.Ithinkitprobablyvergesontheedgeofporn.It'sanextremeformofqueercinema,withaveryhighartbackgroundtoit,"MooretoldReuters.
"Icouldpossiblyunderstandifweweretryingtoshowthefilmasageneralreleasebutnotinafestivalenvironmentwithscreeningsrelativelylateatnightproperlycontextualized."
ItisthefirstfilmtobebannedfromthefestivalsinceLarryClark's"KenPark"in2003."KenPark"revolvedaroundtheabusivehomelivesofagroupofteenageskateboarders.
MooresaidLaBruce,whosefilm"Otto,Or,UpWithDeadPeople"debutedatthe2008SundanceFilmFestival,wasdelightedbythebanassuchamovealwayscreatedmorebuzzaroundafilm.
"IknowBruceLaBruceisparticularlyhappyaboutthisbecauseit'sgivinghimenormouspublicityforhisworldpremierattheLocarnoInternationalFilmFestivalfilmfestival(inSwitzerlandonAugust5),"saidMoore.
ThefilmhasalsobeenselectedtoscreenattheTorontoInternationalFilmFestival.
LaBrucetoldtheSydneyMorningHeraldnewspaperthatthebanwasgoodforhimassuchcensorshipwouldjustincreasetheamountofpeoplewantingtoseethemovie.
InastatementLaBrucesaidthebanwassurprisingasthiswasthesoftcoreversionofthemovie.ThehardcoreversionwillbereleasedanddistributedseparatelyonHalloween.
"AlthoughapparentlytheAustralianClassificationBoardhasnoproblempassingallmannerofmainstreamtorturepornmovieswhichfeature,amongstotherthings,therapeanddismembermentofwomen,it'sinterestingthattheyhavenostomachforamoviethatreaffirmslife,"LaBrucesaidinhisstatement.
"Censorshipinanyformshouldnotbetolerated,buttobanafilmthatoneprogrameratamajorfestivalhascalled"amasterpieceofmelancholia"istrulybeyondthepale."