CensorsClassifiers at the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification have reviewed DAMON AND HUNTER: DOING IT FOR THE OFLC online, and although they not issued an official ruling, they have said that the objectionable sexual content has been removed to their satisfaction.

But they have also expressed concern that the replacement of the objectionable footage text reading Footage Removed by Order of the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification is “defamatory to the OFLC.”

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines “defame” in the following ways:

1 archaic : DISGRACE
2 : to harm the reputation of by libel or slander
3 archaic : ACCUSE

The position of the OFLC is that they have not ordered the removal of the objectionable sexual material from DAMOM AND HUNTER: DOING IT TOGETHER, they are merely enforcing the law; that we have not been compelled by the OFLC to remove the footage, but have done so voluntarily.

Right.

This “concern” about defaming the OFLC seems disingenuous on their part. The law they say they’re “merely enforcing” clearly gives them the discretion to give DAMON AND HUNTER an R-rating, or to allow an exemption for a film festival screening, or both.

The OFLC both interprets and enforces the law. The OFLC can, if they choose, strip a film festival of it’s right to operate. The OFLC can also exert more subtle, insidious pressure. For example, they can tighten the exemptions they give for films from outside of Australian that a festival wishes to show. That’s right, all foreign films shown at Australian Festivals must be give a waiver by the OFLC before they can be shown.

Certainly in making this stink, Comstock Films has lost all hope of any of our future films being given anything other than an X-rating, but the OFLC also has the option of “Refused Classification” on our future submissions – which is nothing less than a total ban on distributing them in any form in any part of Australia.

Of course I am frustrated at not being able to show my film, the way I intended it to be seen to a group of adults who want to see it. I contemplated taping a brief “Director’s Statement” that could be shown immediately ahead of DAMON AND HUNTER to explain to the audience how and why the film had been altered, but putting that statement on the screen in a theater puts it under the jurisdiction of the OFLC; the Director’s Statement would need a waiver to be shown, and I can’t image the OFLC wouldn’t have “concerns” that my statement was “defamatory to the OFLC.” This is beginning to feel like a fight I can’t win.

On top of all of that, from the start I have been concerned with how raising a ruckus might effect our dealings with the OFLC on future films. We don’t make money showing films at film festivals, we make money by selling DVDs, and we can’t do that without submitting our films to the OFLC for “classification”. Moreover, the OFLC’s X-rating already means it’s illegal to sell DAMON AND HUNTER in most of Australia. What if they decide to give our DVD sales the same special attention they’ve given the QueerDOC screening?

I am weary. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since this mess started. I’ve got a beautiful film MATT AND KHYM that needs to be finished. The Summer is winding down and it won’t be long before it’s too cold to swim and sail with my girls. Maybe enough’s enough. It’s not my country, and It’s not my fight. Maybe it’s time to leave Australia to the Australians.

Maybe it’s time for me to move on.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 at 5:02 am and is filed under Censorship, Damon & Hunter, OFLC, queerDOC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.