Baise You SPCS

PRESS RELEASE

Becks Incredible Film Fest HQ
November 7th, 2002

Direct from the Film and Literature Board of Review come the decisions that we've been waiting over half a year for. The controversial festival films BAISE MOI and VISITOR Q have both been passed for eventual theatrical screenings in New Zealand.

The long and complicated review process is covered in great detail in their findings (50 page reports!), which will eventually be available to members of the public. As I type this, no one has been notified of these decisions. The bottom line is simply this -both films still have their original classification of R18 with limitations on their accessibility to the public via other mediums.. ie Video/ TV/ DVD.

The only difference between the original classifications that the Classification Office handed down and the ones just announced by the Board of Review is that the content riders (the small descriptions that accompany the rating ie 'Contains scenes of violence) are more descriptive about both films graphic content.

The only slip up in all this, was that the Board of Review were more lenient on BAISE MOI on the first round and altered the classification. This would have made the film eventually available on video/dvd but not television as The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards (SPCS) attempted to claim. Television is self-regulated body and someone would have to be asleep at the helm to have allowed BAISE MOI to show on network television. And remember the only reason the Board of Review got involved in the first place is because SPCS decided the Classification Office had erred in the first place and asked for the films to be banned. Well obviously they didn't and now they have been vindicated.

The decision on BULLY is still to come. The SPCS announced plans to stop MAU MAU SEX SEX, IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES, GONIN and more but gave up when it was obvious they weren't going to get any media coverage on these not-so problematic titles. Their request to halt screenings of AND YOUR MAMA TOO, THE PIANO TEACHER also failed earlier in the year. They are now 0 for 4 and on their way to 0 for 5.

In some ways, The Society for Promotion of Community Standards have been told to back away from film classification, to stop clogging the Courts and most of all - stop wasting tens (hundreds?) of thousands of tax payers dollars on attempting to be New Zealand's cinematic moral guardians. We didn't ask for your so called 'expertise' on what adults should view in cinemas and the High Court + the elected Board of Review obviously felt the same way.

These decisions are total vindication for all New Zealand adults and most importantly, for free-thinking moviegoers everywhere.

ENDS

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