‘FrightFest’ organisers scrap premiere of ‘sick’ movie A Serbian Film
Published: 27 August, 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM
THE Leicester Square premiere of a film branded “the sickest ever made” featuring a scene in which a newborn baby is raped has been scrapped following heavy criticism.
Yesterday (Thursday) organisers of FrightfFest – a four-day horror film festival held in Leicester Square – decided to abandon the Sunday night premiere of A Serbian Film after Westminster City Council said it could not be shown without an official certificate.
The film regulatory body the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) ruled the Serbian language film about a former porn director who comes out of retirement to make one last film, contains “problematic images of sexual violence and material which portrays children in an abusive context” and must be heavily censored before being shown at the Empire Cinema.
Officials confirmed they had received a complaint about a “degrading scene” ahead of Sunday’s high-profile screening.
The film, by director Srdjan Spasojevic, has sparked outrage at in other countries for its graphic content, including rape, paedophilia and murder, with one cinema reportedly banning food and drink because of so many people vomiting.
Mr Spasojevic has justified the violence as a reflection of what he called “our own molestation by the Serbian government”.
Film critic Todd Brown, from the movie website Twitch, said: “This film left me feeling dirty and assaulted.”
The plot follows a former porn star who is lured out of retirement to make one last “artistic statement”.
The BBFC made 49 individual cuts to the film – around four minutes.
Alan Jones, co-director of Film4 FrightFest, said:“Film4 FrightFest has decided not to show A Serbian Film in a heavily cut version because, as a festival with a global integrity, we think a film of this nature should be shown in its entirety as per the director’s intention. Several film festivals across the world have already done so.”
A spokeswoman for BBFC said: “The film-makers have stated that A Serbian Film is intended as an allegory about Serbia itself.
The board recognises that the images are intended to shock, but the sexual and sexualised violence goes beyond what is acceptable under current BBFC guidelines at ‘18’.”
A statement from Westminster Council’s licensing committee said: “An officer of the council has viewed the film and has considered that it would be more appropriate for members to consider classifying the film due to its graphic content and the fact that the council has received a complaint about the film.”