José Luis García Pérez (left) in Bear Cub. The tale of a gay man who becomes the surrogate father of his nine-year-old nephew, Bear Cub was one of three gay-themed films that led to obscenity accusations against the Rehoboth Beach Film Society.- Delaware’s Rehoboth Beach Film Society vs. seemingly anti-gay puritanism.
- Harrison Ford to take part in the Iraq War by way of The Battle of Falluja?
- In rare move, costly Malaysian romantic epic A Legendary Love to be screened in Singapore.
- Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed an AIDS Awareness Special Ambassador.
Delaware’s Rehoboth Beach Film Society fights apparently anti-gay puritanism
The Rehoboth Beach Film Society, based in the U.S. state of Delaware, has become embroiled in the fight against (possibly anti-gay) puritanism.
The good news: sanity, for once, has prevailed.
Delaware State Police and the state’s Attorney General have declared that the Rehoboth Beach Film Society did not violate any state obscenity laws during its November 2004 film festival.
‘Explicit gay sex’ outrage
A woman had complained to authorities that the Film Society had screened three movies purportedly containing “explicit” gay sex scenes while minors were present in other parts of the cinema complex where the festival was held.
The movies, however, were shown in an area apart from the main complex; admission to those screenings was also kept separate.
The three alleged offenders were Miguel Albaladejo’s Spanish dramatic comedy Bear Cub / Cachorro; John Palmer’s Canadian romantic teen drama Sugar; and Vladimir Vitkin’s U.S. thriller X Y.
More December news: Harrison Ford in Iraq + AIDS awareness ambassador Amitabh Bachchan
Below are, in brief, a few more December stories.
- According to reports, veteran actor Harrison Ford – whose movie career goes all the way back to the 1966 crime comedy Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round – will join the Iraq War by way of The Battle of Falluja, a film adaptation of an upcoming book by war correspondent Bing West. The titular battle officially left more than 800 people dead, the vast majority of them Iraqi civilians. Best known for Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark and their sequels, Ford was a Best Actor Academy Award nominee for Peter Weir’s 1985 crime drama Witness.
- Saw Teong Hin’s A Legendary Love / Puteri gunung ledang, the most expensive Malaysian movie ever made and a cause of deep embarrassment at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, became the first film from Malaysia in three decades to be screened in neighboring Singapore, where it opened on Dec. 15. Starring Tiara Jacquelina and M. Nasir as star-crossed lovers, A Legendary Love is Malaysia’s submission for the 2005 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
- Veteran Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan (Zanjeer, Deewaar) has been appointed a 46664 Special Ambassador. Clarification: 46664, the prison number of former South African President (and former political prisoner) Nelson Mandela, is an AIDS awareness campaign spearheaded by Mandela himself. Other 46664 Special Ambassadors are former U.S. President Bill Clinton, American talk-show hostess and sometime actress Oprah Winfrey, and Hollywood actors Brad Pitt and Will Smith. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world.
“Rehoboth Beach Film Society” endnotes
Rehoboth Beach Film Society website.
José Luis García Pérez Bear Cub / Cachorro image: Manga Films.
“Rehoboth Beach Film Society vs. (Anti-Gay?) Puritanism” last updated in September 2021.