And you thought that Australia is a democracy, where adults are allowed to make their own choices regarding the movies (or books?) they want to enjoy without government interference? Well, think again…
Via the 2008 Melbourne Queer Film Festival website:
"The films they didn't want you to see!
"The Melbourne Queer Film Festival special presentation of The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome [1973] has been denied exemption from classification by the Office of Film & Literature Classification and is unable to be screened at this year's Festival. Instead the session will be replaced with the Australian premiere screening of Whirlwind, directed by Richard Le May."
…
"Festival Director, Lisa Daniel says, 'The MQFF is terribly disappointed not to be able to show Melbourne audiences the Peter De Rome shorts compilation. It provided a fascinating contrast with contemporary gay erotic cinema, and De Rome's art-house influence was obvious and inspiring. It's a shame a film festival which only screens such sessions to adults must submit to the censorship of Government.'"
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Refused Classification is an excellent source of news about the many motion pictures and DVDs censored in Australia. Clearly, the folks at Australia's Office of Film & Literature Classification are in dire need of meat for their long weekends.
More on Peter De Rome's The Erotic Films of… on this page from Chicago's Reeling Film Festival and on bjland.
The Melbourne Queer Film Festival ends on Monday, March 17.
William Greaves to Be Honored at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Ann Arbor Film Festival 2008 – Special Guests
SXSW Film Festival 2008: Online Buzz
Béla Tarr Retrospective at LACMA
Manoel de Oliveira Retrospective at BAMcinématek
Academy's Contemporary Documentaries 2008
"Films from the New Europe" at USC
THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO – Notes/Trivia
Why do people let those idiots tell them what to see or what to read? It's ridiculous!
Perhaps if they'd shown people getting their heads chopped off then the Office of Censorship would have given the Peter De Rome films a seal of approval.
Those censors are SICK.
I wonder if they'd like US to tell THEM what movies to see and what books to read.
Censors should get themselves a life. Preferably a sex life. Then they'd leave the rest of us alone.