NZ Heads Back To Stone Ages By Banning Acclaimed Film

ACCLAIMED HORROR FILM Maniac, which stars Elijah Wood and, according to Neil Foley from its distributor, Monster Pictures, “is one of the finest horror films in recent years, as its selection into the Cannes Film Festival would suggest.”
The film has been approved for screening in NZ only at the New Zealand International Film Festival, which means it’s illegal for the film to be exhibited generally, and it will be banned on DVD, etc.
The Office of Film and Literature Classification reckons the film is objectionable “except… screened as part of a film festival.”
The NZ film festival programmer responsible for Maniac’s scheduling here, Ant Timpson, says: “I can see the thought process behind it but I think it’s rather big leap to make. I think it’s interesting to see where the OFLC draws a line on this dangerous POV material because it could also segue into a discussion about the graphically realistic and violent first-person video games.”
Foley adds: “Banning the film beyond festival screenings is an insult to the intelligence of the adult population of New Zealand and does little more than to serve as an open invitation to illegally pirate the film. We are flabbergasted.”
Witchdoctor agrees. Let’s ban censorship, and censorship organisations! It’s the 21st Century, godammit!
* Maniac screens this Saturday 27 July at 10.30pm at Skycity Theatre in Auckland, and again on Thursday 1 August at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre.