Censorship, Art and its Value for Society

Recently, President Pohamba rightfully spoke out against ‘sugar daddies’ and advised school-going girls to delay getting involved in relationships and to rather concentrate on finishing their education. I believe, Jahmil XT Qubeka had the same in mind, when he shot his latest film ‘Of Good Report’. As he tells me, he wanted to address the abuse of women by older men, “something seen in South Africa” every day.

The film apparently makes a strong statement against the practice of school teachers acting as sugar daddies. I suppose because I haven’t seen it.

As it stands, at the time of writing this, it would be a criminal offence to posses, let alone watch the movie, if I were still in South Africa.

Having been in Durban myself, for the Durban International Film Festival, the film world was surprised and shocked, as ‘Of Good Report’, the opening film, was banned by the South African Film and Publication Board (FPB), on the grounds it contained “child pornography”.

Unfortunately the FPB only watched 30 minutes of the film, before they made their decision referring to one scene.

The board seems to have made an unwise decision, as they have now achieved what they wanted to prevent. The film was the talk of the town, media houses from within South Africa and outside, including Variety and Hollywood Reporter, have been prominently covering the story.

This was to be expected, especially as it was the first film to be put on an index since 1994, the year Apartheid rule ended. Even worse, the festival had to announce the decision on the birthday of none other than Nelson Mandela, who all his life stood strong against censorship and policies against freedom of expression.

It was a sad day for South Africa, and the film industry at large.

But it might also be the other way around and good will come out if this. The filmmaker, whose life had changed overnight, has requests for his newest film coming in from all over the world. The success at the box offices outside South Africa, in the festival circuit and regarding DVD sales should be enormous. The banning of his film has achieved the opposite of what the FPB had intended. Due to their decision, the film had been marketed all around the world. Twitter accounts and Facebook pages were opened.

Furthermore, the ban has triggered a series of discussions around censorship, classification, and if audiences can abstract from images seen on screen and interpret the underlying social message.

Academics are writing their papers, so are lawyers, and COSATU, FEPACI, DFA, Arterial Network and others are forming a coalition opposing the FPB decision and censorship in general.

On 27 July, there were whoops and a round of spontaneous applause from filmmaker Jahmil Qubeka and Durban Film Festival manager Peter Machen when the appeals committee of the FPB overturned the ruling that the film ‘Of Good Report’ contains ‘child pornography’ and is therefore unclassifiable and criminal. The film is now unbanned and rated 16.

The Sunday Times called it, “one of the most original, darkly humorous and brilliant films to have been made in post-apartheid South Africa.”

The paper continues to say, “the sex scenes are simulated and far less pornographic than many a film passed for classification in the last two decades, including ‘Kids’, ‘Ken Park’, ‘The Centre of the World’, ‘LIE’ and even ‘American Beauty’.

The furore surrounding ‘Of Good Report’ says far more about who classifies films and about the misbegotten belief that the local film industry is in the business of nation-building than it does about anything to do with child pornography. What the film proves is that a serious review is needed of the policies of the FPB and its selection of classifiers. The film goes on general release on 9 August.

Some countries have a long history of banning certain films, which the censorship boards label as ‘difficult’, films which challenge societal norms or depict unconventional scenarios that would offend the average viewer.

It is important that an open society values this openness and learns how to deal with controversies in a pragmatic manner. Criticism of certain societal norms and the debate around them is beneficial to a society. It moves a society forward.

AfricAvenir is showing ‘Cairo Station’ (1958) by legendary Egyptian director Youusef Chahine on 12 August, as opening film of the first week of classic Egyptian films in Windhoek. This Chahine masterpiece explores sexuality and repression, madness and violence, among the marginalised. ‘Cairo Station’ brought the director international recognition at the Berlin Film Festival. The film was declared a masterpiece but the Egyptian authorities at the time didn’t think so. The film was banned for 20 years. The ban is now lifted.

This year, a film which premiered at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco) 2013, ‘Le President’ by award winning Cameroonian director Jean-Pierre Bekolo, encountered the same fate. The Cameroonian authorities did not approve of the daring film plot. Bekolo triggered the anger of Paul Biya’s government by making a fictional film in which the ‘Le President’ disappears a few days before the elections.

As ‘Le President’ is clearly directed at President Biya, who has been in power for over 30 years, and as Bekolo is asking critical questions, highlighting stories of succession, independence and transformation, the authorities are increasing the pressure to stop the film from being watched by ordinary Cameroonians, oppressing any debate amongst the people who are supposed to be represented by the government.

I was fortunate to see the film at the Durban International Film Festival. But unfortunately the audiences, for whom the film was made, couldn’t see it. The same could be said about ‘Of Good Report’, at least temporarily. It is the local audiences, which filmmakers are prioritising.

Bekolo is known for his reflective critical and thought provoking films. So was Chahine. And they both contributed immensely to their societies.

Let’s hope, authorities, wherever they are, will be more open and understanding, that film is an art form, and that any art form is essential for society and for the advancement of humanity.

To keep with the festival’s banned theme: Almost 30 years after his master’s thesis film ‘Shot Down’ won an award at the Durban International Film Festival, director Andrew Worsdale’s second feature, ‘Durban Poison’, has been named the Best South African Film at this year’s festival. Film industry viewers with complimentary tickets had to be turned away from its two screenings due to the public turnout.

Worsdale says the award is “gratifying and confirmation of the film’s crossover appeal”.

Audiences appreciated its idiosyncratic South African characters and story, he believes.

‘Durban Poison’, starring Brandon Auret and Carla Roberts as a pair of killers on the run, was inspired by the real-life story of Charmaine Phillips and Piet Grundlingh.

It will screen at the London Film Festival before being seen locally.

Hans-Christian Mahnke attended the Durban Film Market, which runs parallel to the Durban International Film Festival. He is the director of AfricAvenir Windhoek, an NGO which runs an African Film Series in Windhoek.