PRESS RELEASE::
BECK'S INCREDIBLE FILM FEST::
2003 FILMS SCREENING::

In Response to a release by SPCS.

IRREVERSIBLE and KEN PARK have been to every major film festival in the world and have won awards. They are not smut films.

BIFF Fee waiver subsidies has been approx $50,000 for the 10 year period. Many films are simply cross rated from overseas ratings.

35% of films don't go to the Classification Office they go to the FLVB. $5,000 a year to bring acclaimed films into New Zealand from around the world.

No other film festival in the world even pays censorship fees.

NZ festivals have actually paid out hundreds of thousands in fees that no other film festivals do.

If waivers were pulled then there would be NO film festivals in NZ. None. Nada.

How much High Court / Board of Review time and money did SPCS spend on LOSING five of their cases against films last year?

Clearly to most this is vexatious behaviour from SPCS.

Anyone who runs a festival will tell you that its not easy to break even let alone make a profit. We don't live all in Gods shadow nor do we quake in fear at the ol horny one.

We understand that fictional films sometimes represent an unflattering look at life but it is the right of free thinking adult New Zealanders to CHOOSE whether they wish to see the film in a regulated adult environment. The two films in question are art films. Not pornography.

This is what The Society of Promotion of Community Standards calls a Festival of Porn and Smut. This is what happens when you are an uninformed extremist organisation with a chip on your shoulder. Please read about the films yourself and make your own judgements. I suspect they might not be the same as the SPCS's. Thank you.

THE 48HR PROJECT :: An exciting film competition that takes place over one weekend. NZ is the first country selected outside the US.

AVALON :: The hypnotic and dazzling new film about a virtual gaming world from the man behind the legendary AKIRA.

BACKYARD, THE :: A documentary about the wild world of backyard amateur wrestling. Funny and frightening at the same time.

BATTLE ROYALE :: Directed by Japan's most famous director, 80yr Kinji Fukasaku this is an update of the Most Dangerous Game meets Lord of the Flies.

CINEMANIA :: Documentary about people obsessed with cinema.

CUL DE SAC :: Documentary that investigates why one fed up man in San Diego hijacked a tank and took to the streets.

WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP :: Based on the bestseller, this haunting b&w documentary looks at a terrible year in one small towns history. Unforgettable.

ORPHANS AND ANGELS :: The Premiere of a digi NZ feature.

DEAD OR ALIVE 1 :: From Takashi Miike (Audition). Guns, gangsters and laughs. Hyper-kinetic crime film that never stops.

DEAD OR ALIVE 2 :: From Takashi Miike (Audition). Sequel in name only ­ this look at the lifelong bonding of friendships between yakuza is quirky, funny and sad.

FINAL DESTINATION 2 :: The Sequel to the popular Hollywood is a tour-de-force in action set pieces that even DePalma would acknowledge as brilliant.

GETTING ANY :: Directed and starring Beat Takashi (Sonatine, Hanna-Bi) comes this non-stop parade of juvenile humour and insanity.

GRAVEYARD OF DEATH AND HONOR :: A remake of the 60's Yakuza classic by the man of the moment ­ Takashi Miike (Auditon, Happiness of the Katakuris)

HAXAN :: A live new score will accompany this silent classic.

IRREVERSIBLE :: The film they want banned without seeing it. Acclaimed around the world, this award winner is the most powerful piece of cinema for years.

JACKASS :: The hit MTV show comes to the big screen. More laughs per second that any other film around. Dumb, gross but hysterical.

JIN ROH :: Animated hit from Japan features a serious political insight about the future. Outstanding animation for adults.

KAANTE:: The latest Bollywood hit is one part Reservoir Dogs and one part Usual Suspects and finally one big part funky musical.

KEN PARK :: New film by Larry Clarke. A sometimes depressing, sometimes funny look at the drollness of suburbia through the eyes of teenagers.

MENTAL HYGIENE :: Campy look at old educational films.

TV CARNAGE:: Funny assemblage of the worst clips from TV, edited by someone with a weird sense of humour.

MY LITTLE EYE :: Gripping thriller set in the wilderness, where 5 people have been selected to live 6 months in a house rigged for internet viewing. Nerve-wracking suspense.

SOFT FOR DIGGING:: The Sundance low-budget entry that spooked them all out. An old man witnesses something n the forest near his house. What he sees haunts him. Scary!

OLD MEN IN NEW CARS:: The hit sequel to last years In China They Eat Dogs

READ MY LIPS:: The best reviewed French thriller since DIVA.

SCARLETT DIVA :: Asia Argento star of XXX directs herself in this self-indulgent semi-autobiograhical account of her life. Amazingly candid.

SPEEDO:: This years Devil at Your Heels! A look at the world of raconteur and demolition derby freak Speedo. Funny and insightful.

TATTOO:: The biggest hit in Germany is a slick as pie thriller about a murder investigation. Se7en meets Silence of the Lambs Fry.

THE BEAST :: Absurdly campy now, this erotic shocker was the scandal of the 1971 London Film festival.

TRIBUTE :: A documentary covering the trials and tribulations of tribute bands. So painfully funny you'll want to cry.

WATTSTAX:: A brilliant documentary about the largest African American concert in history. Featuring Isaac Hays, Albert King, Soul Children, Richard Pryor, Jesse Jackson and more.

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER:: Our #1 pick of the fest. The most fun you'll have in a cinema all year. A devastatingly good spoof of 80s camp films.

VINYL:: A documentary about one mans obsession search for LPs.

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