Mungo Soggot
A string of sexy films heading for South Africa is set to test the mettle of the censorship board and its successor under the new Publications Bill.
Leading the charge will be Crash which, according to one local reviewer, involves ”as much high-velocity sex as [there are] high-velocity car crashes”. Nu-Metro, the film’s importer, was so anxious about its move into risque territory that it invited reviewers at the preview to jot down their comments before leaving.
Crash — which goes on circuit next week with an 18, sex violence and nudity rating — and the other films arrive at a time when elements in the African National Congress are pushing for tighter censorship laws. There will probably be many in the ruling classes who will frown upon those films which portray sex between teenagers, for example.
But the films, many of which have proved controversial in Europe and the United States, will also enter what is effectively a censorship no man’s land. The old board is winding down and expects to hand over to a new Film and Publications Board by the beginning of next year, assuming Parliament gives the new Publications Bill the green light.
Two of the missiles aimed at the censorship board are Doom Generation and Kids, which involve hefty doses of teenage sex and drug abuse.
Libby Gelman-Waxner summed up Kids in the American Premiere magazine: ”A day in the life of a gang of teenagers who spend their time hanging out, skateboarding, bashing people, puffing monster joints and having sex with virgins”. The film came top at the American alternative Sundance Festival.
Also heading for South African screens is Lie Down with Dogs which, according to one reviewer, has a strong undertone of bestiality running through it.
Under the new rules, the Film and Publications Board will be able to ban for distribution films which include child sex, explicit violent sexual conduct and bestiality. According to the Bill, child sex involves a person under the age of 18 (or presented as being under age) engaging in or helping another person to engage in ”sexual conduct” or ”a lewd display of nudity”.
One of the amendments introduced by the parliamentary committee was the addition of ”degrading sex” into the XX category, after pressure from ANC MPs driven by a strong women’s lobby.
* The Freedom of Expression Institute this week called on Parliament not to pass the Bill, which looked like a ”rushed job”. It objected to, among other clauses, the Bill’s move to broaden the categories of pornographic material banned for possession.