Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O'Connor's Obscene is screening today at the Toronto International Film Festival. Thom Powers says the following about the film:
"Barney Rosset is one of the great unsung heroes in post-war America's battle for free expression. As publisher of Grove Press and the Evergreen Review, he challenged obscenity bans against Lady Chatterley's Lover, Tropic of Cancer, Naked Lunch and more, repeatedly risking his company on court battles. His literary and political instincts led him to publish works as diverse as Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. His love of film spurred him to produce Strange Victory, a 1948 documentary about post-war racism. Later, he fought censors as far as the Supreme Court to distribute the risqué 1967 Swedish film I Am Curious (Yellow).
"First-time directors Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O'Connor take us on a thrilling trip through Rosset's crusades. They uncover some wonderful archival material: 16mm footage Rosset shot as an Army cameraman in the Second World War; Zero Mostel and Burgess Meredith performing in a televised Waiting for Godot; Gerald Ford denouncing the Evergreen Review. The film's jazzy graphics recall the flair of Grove Press' memorable cover designs."
Rosset, who's now in his eighties, appears in the documentary as an interview subject, along with Erica Jong, Jim Carroll and, inevitably, John Waters.
Sadly — pathetically? — the topic of censorship, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, remains as vital as ever, for too many people with too many "good intentions" and way too much time in their hands — but too few neurons in their brains — keep trying to push the clock back to the Middle Ages.
Toronto Film Festival 2007 – Awards
Toronto Film Festival 2007 Award Winners – Article
Toronto Film Festival 2007 – Contemporary World Cinema
Toronto Film Festival 2007 – Gala Screenings, Masters, Special Presentations
Toronto Film Festival 2007 Real to Reel Documentary Line-Up
Toronto Film Festival 2007 – Visions and Vanguard Sidebars
San Sebastian Film Festival 2007 – Zabaltegi (New Directors) Sidebar
Montreal World Film Festival 2007 – First Films World Competition