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07:16Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
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ENTERTAINMENT - ARTS
| 2013-07-22
‘Child porn’ film banned from Durban Film Festival
A scene from ‘Of Good Report’.
CENSORSHIP marred the opening of the 34th Durban International Film Festival (Diff) over the weekend when the Film and Publication Board banned the opening film, ‘Of Good Report’.
Instead of the opening sequence to Jahmil XT Qubeka’s drama about a teacher who embarks on a sexual relationship with a pupil, the filmmakers and invited guests read the following on the Suncoast Cinema screen:
“This film has been refused classification by the Film and Publications Act 1996.
“Unfortunately we may not legally screen the film ‘Of Good Report’, as to do so would constitute a criminal offence.”
Film and Publications Board spokesperson, Prince Mlimandlela Ndamase, said child pornography was not peculiar to South Africa, it was illegal worldwide.
“We are leading a campaign (since 2010) against child pornography on behalf of the government. The board is not trying to censor a particular individual. It is the law in South Africa,” he said.
Ndamase said Qubeka had stated his intention to appeal against the board’s decision and it was awaiting the formal appeal. He explained that the board had an independent appeals tribunal headed by law professor and acting High Court judge Karthy Govender.
Ndamase could not provide a time frame for the appeal process but said once it was lodged, the tribunal did its best to expedite the process.
According to the board’s classification committee they stopped watching the film at 28 minutes and 16 seconds because the film contained child pornography.
At this point in the film 16-year-old Nolitha (played by 23-year-old Petronella Tshuma) is depicted in her Grade 9 school uniform.
Since she had engaged in a sexual act with an adult in a preceding scene, this is depiction of child pornography, according to the board.
In an e-mailed letter to the Diff manager, Peter Machen, the board refused to classify the film and ordered the festival to either destroy or surrender copies of the film to the police.
Machen said the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as the organising body of the film festival would appeal and he hoped it could still be screened before the festival ends on July 28.
He said they did not substitute the film because it would have lessened the impact of Qubeka’s film and invited film patrons to tweet their thoughts on the issue.
“We expected feathers to be ruffled in other ways,” Machen said with reference to ‘Of Good Report’, which he described as different from Hollywood-style narratives.
Qubeka first came to Diff’s notice with ‘uMalusi’ praised for its cinematography and ‘Of Good Report’ is meant to be a homage to classic film noir.
‘Of Good Report’ producer Mike Auret, of Spier Films, said the film had been picked up for screening at the next Berlin, Rotterdam, Toronto and Dubai film festivals.
He expressed shock and disbelief at the ban: “I don’t believe it is the function of the state to censor us in this way.”
Auret said that if an appeal did not result in the film being screened locally, he would investigate, taking the matter to the Constitutional Court.
Actress Phoenix Norgaard, who plays Nolitha’s friend in the film, said it highlighted the plight of young girls manipulated into having sex with older men as a means of economic survival.
She saw the banning of the film as an opportunity for people to talk about a hidden issue that affects many.
“If we can’t find the information in this way, perhaps we can find it in other ways.
“There’s a lesson here tonight. If we can’t stop it (censorship) now, it will only grow.”
Tshuma said the film was a cry from her sisters in townships engaged in relationships with older men as a means of survival, and hoped people would concentrate on that rather than whether the film depicts child porn or not.
Fellow actress Lee-Ann van Rooi, who plays a policewoman in the film, said the banning saddened her as she knew everyone had worked hard on the project: “It is a story told in an honest and brutal way so that the audience can see the movie and with that in mind, change.”
The director’s wife, doctor Lwazi Manzi, said the film’s subject matter was something experienced and seen in South Africa every day: “Just because they don’t want to see it, does not mean it is not happening.
Qubeka declined to speak, taping his mouth shut in protest.
– www.iol.co.za
“This film has been refused classification by the Film and Publications Act 1996.
“Unfortunately we may not legally screen the film ‘Of Good Report’, as to do so would constitute a criminal offence.”
Film and Publications Board spokesperson, Prince Mlimandlela Ndamase, said child pornography was not peculiar to South Africa, it was illegal worldwide.
“We are leading a campaign (since 2010) against child pornography on behalf of the government. The board is not trying to censor a particular individual. It is the law in South Africa,” he said.
Ndamase said Qubeka had stated his intention to appeal against the board’s decision and it was awaiting the formal appeal. He explained that the board had an independent appeals tribunal headed by law professor and acting High Court judge Karthy Govender.
Ndamase could not provide a time frame for the appeal process but said once it was lodged, the tribunal did its best to expedite the process.
According to the board’s classification committee they stopped watching the film at 28 minutes and 16 seconds because the film contained child pornography.
At this point in the film 16-year-old Nolitha (played by 23-year-old Petronella Tshuma) is depicted in her Grade 9 school uniform.
Since she had engaged in a sexual act with an adult in a preceding scene, this is depiction of child pornography, according to the board.
In an e-mailed letter to the Diff manager, Peter Machen, the board refused to classify the film and ordered the festival to either destroy or surrender copies of the film to the police.
Machen said the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as the organising body of the film festival would appeal and he hoped it could still be screened before the festival ends on July 28.
He said they did not substitute the film because it would have lessened the impact of Qubeka’s film and invited film patrons to tweet their thoughts on the issue.
“We expected feathers to be ruffled in other ways,” Machen said with reference to ‘Of Good Report’, which he described as different from Hollywood-style narratives.
Qubeka first came to Diff’s notice with ‘uMalusi’ praised for its cinematography and ‘Of Good Report’ is meant to be a homage to classic film noir.
‘Of Good Report’ producer Mike Auret, of Spier Films, said the film had been picked up for screening at the next Berlin, Rotterdam, Toronto and Dubai film festivals.
He expressed shock and disbelief at the ban: “I don’t believe it is the function of the state to censor us in this way.”
Auret said that if an appeal did not result in the film being screened locally, he would investigate, taking the matter to the Constitutional Court.
Actress Phoenix Norgaard, who plays Nolitha’s friend in the film, said it highlighted the plight of young girls manipulated into having sex with older men as a means of economic survival.
She saw the banning of the film as an opportunity for people to talk about a hidden issue that affects many.
“If we can’t find the information in this way, perhaps we can find it in other ways.
“There’s a lesson here tonight. If we can’t stop it (censorship) now, it will only grow.”
Tshuma said the film was a cry from her sisters in townships engaged in relationships with older men as a means of survival, and hoped people would concentrate on that rather than whether the film depicts child porn or not.
Fellow actress Lee-Ann van Rooi, who plays a policewoman in the film, said the banning saddened her as she knew everyone had worked hard on the project: “It is a story told in an honest and brutal way so that the audience can see the movie and with that in mind, change.”
The director’s wife, doctor Lwazi Manzi, said the film’s subject matter was something experienced and seen in South Africa every day: “Just because they don’t want to see it, does not mean it is not happening.
Qubeka declined to speak, taping his mouth shut in protest.
– www.iol.co.za
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