------=_NextPart_000_0070_01C4FE34.A2C4D6A0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Group...
A very chilling story, indeed. We are a verrrrry conservative/RED area, yet
I still manage to show a few "iffy" films with little incident. This past
summer, we showed 'Pulp Fiction' and this past fall we screened Shohei
Imamura's 'The Eel', among many other titles. There was some concern from a
few in the library on the showing of either of these titles, due mostly to
the violence/language in each. In all promotional materials we printed and
in my introduction to each film, I made it crystal clear the nature of both
titles...if an individual was not comfortable with the subject matter, they
might be better off to come to a different film at another time. Although a
few walked out of each, the overall audience response was overwhelmingly
positive to both, with attendance figures comparable to what I would get for
most of out films.
Ironically, I had a complaint on Hitchcock's 'Psycho', which we screened for
Halloween. But the complaint was not on the actual film...it was for the
promotional poster we printed, which was a scan of the DVD cover depicting
Janet Leigh screaming in the infamous shower scene.
A few DVD titles I have had challenged in the past year: 'Armistead
Maupin's Further Tales Of The City', Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant', 'In The
Cut', 'The Safety Of Objects', and 'Before Night Falls'. In all of these
circumstances, the viewer was concerned about 'sex' scenes. They don't seem
to care too much about extreme violence...hmmmm.
It was good seeing you all in Boston!
Blane
Blane Halliday
AV Acquisitions Librarian
Collier County Public Library
2385 Orange Blossom Drive
Naples, Florida 34109
239-593-3511, ext. 45
bhalliday@collier-lib.org
-----Original Message-----
From: videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu
[mailto:videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu]On Behalf Of Cecilia Hurt
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 1:51 PM
To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
Subject: [Videolib] Film Censorship
Hello, everyone!
Please see below a current film censorship story. At this time, I do not
know of any actions being taken to reinstate the film in the collection.
On a related note, for this year's Banned Books Week, the Video Round
Table will be creating an attractive banned/challenged/censored film
handout. It will be made available on the VRT web site. We are in the
information gathering stage of development. Does anyone have suggestions for
titles that should included?
Thank you,
~Cecilia
Official cancels viewing of film
By Jean Weaver
Special to the Star-Telegram
ARLINGTON - Interim City Manager Fred Greene canceled the showing of a
movie with sexual overtones Thursday that the Arlington Public Library had
planned to show at its independent film festival this month.
Falling Angels, based on a novel by a Canadian writer, contains female
nudity, sex scenes, adultery, adult language and situations, incest
overtones and unwanted pregnancy set in the 1960s.
The library had been planning to launch an independent film festival at
the George W. Hawkes Central Library, 101 E. Abram St., with three movies
scheduled from Jan. 29 through March. The other two films, Buddy and
Witnesses, are being reviewed.
"The film has been pulled," Arlington Mayor Pro Tem Ron Wright said. "The
librarians were given strict content guidelines by Greene, which are based
upon the information that if a film cannot be shown to someone under 17,
then it would not be appropriate for the city libraries of Arlington."
The Canadian film was released in U.S. theaters Oct. 31. It was not rated
by the Motion Picture Association of America. However, a recommendation on
the back cover of the video says it should not to be shown to people under
17.
Adults-only films have never been shown at the Arlington libraries, said
Starr Krottinger, public services administrator for the Arlington Public
Library System. Reference librarian Linda Seitz said that she has previewed
half of Falling Angels and is aware of the content.
The films were aimed at college-age people, she said.
Library patron Carlos Medina, 23, of Arlington said the library wasn't the
place for the film. "There are plenty of other places to see that kind of
stuff," Medina said. "They don't have to show it at the library."
The film is no longer available for checkout.
------=_NextPart_000_0070_01C4FE34.A2C4D6A0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">