Here is the email received by the Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc. (SPCS) from Herald on Sunday reporter Andre Hueber on Friday April 29, 2011 at 10.38 AM regarding LA Zombie, a film we were told was that was prevented from being screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival in July 2010. The Festival organisers had proposed to screen it, but the necessary ‘exemption’ for screening an unclassified film was not granted in that instance (pers. comm. Paul Tenison, Acting Applications Manager, Classification Branch, Australian Attorney General’s Department).
Hi SPCS
I’m writing a story about a gay porn zombie film called LA Zombie showing at Out Takes film festival in Auckland and Wellington in June [2011]. It was censored by the Australian Film Classification Board last year. They advised organisers of the Melbourne International Film Festival that the film couldn’t be shown as it was likely to be refused classification.
New Zealand’s Office of Film and Literature Classification has allowed the film to be shown here and classified it R18. A warning that the movie contains “violence, sex scenes and content that may disturb” is attached.
I understand the movie contains full frontal nude scenes, zombies with prosthetic cucumber penises, wound penetraion and implied sex with corpses.
The plot is described by Wikipedia as follows:
“A homeless schizophrenic thinks he’s an alien zombie sent to earth. Roaming the streets of Los Angeles in search of dead bodies, he tries to bring the dead back to life by engaging in homosexual sex.”
I’d like to know the Society’s thoughts on this and whether it plans to protest or complain.
Please get back to me as soon as possible ….
Kind regards
Andre Huester: Reporter
Herald on Sunday
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Email Reply from John Mills, President SPCS
Thanks for the enquiry seeking comment.
For the legal and technical reasons why SPCS is appealing [to the Film and Literature Board of Review] against this Office of Film and Literature Classification’s decision [re LA Zombie], please consult with our Executive Director….
I [John Mills] am disappointed to learn that this film is being promoted by the [New Zealand] gay community, if indeed that is the case.
The gay community has gained widespread acceptability of their lifestyle within society during the last 20 or so years. I have come to accept and be supportive of this as a reality of the society we share. However, having said that, it is unfortunate that they allow themselves to be represented by what I think must be a radical minority who are seeking to promote this type of [film] material which has to be attempting to set a new low, pushing way beyond the boundaries of reasonablenes.
This film needs to be judged as not [as a valid form of] “freedom of expression” but injurious to the public good. For the sake of political correctness New Zealanders have become pressured into agreeing that anything goes, just as long as it does not hurt others. If we had not lost our senses of what will be harmful, we would not even need to be having the discussion [over this film].
I think we ought to be working together with the gay communitty to keep this material [that is injurious to the public good] out of New Zealand.
John Mills
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?COPY of Email sent to Andre Hueber from SPCS
Email from Department of Internal Affairs to SPCS.
Friday April 29, 2011 at 2.34 PM
[To SPCS]
“On behalf of Julie Wall, Senior Business Advisor, Business Services, Ministerial and Secretarial Services, Department of Internal Affairs, this is to confirm receipt of your completed application for a review by the Film and Literature Board of Review ……[received] today 29 April.”
Kind regards
Robyn Brooke
Executive Assistant to General Manager
Ministerial and Secretarial Services
The Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua
Bowen House, Wellington
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References
Banned Horror Film to Screen [in New Zealand]
by Andre Hueber 1 May 2011. New Zealand Herald: 1 May 2011
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/movies/news/article.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10722596
Australian Reports
Festival zombie porn flick banned. 12 July 2010
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/21/2959594.htm
Zombie porn screening leads to police raid. 12 November 2010
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