by Thinus Ferreira
Filmmaker Anant Singh and cartoonist
Zapiro are slamming South Africa's Film and Publication Board over as 16LNPSV
rating for their new documentary feature film The Showerhead and say they will
appeal the rating of the "censor panel" early this week.
The Showerhead, directed by Craig Tanner and produced by Videovision Entertainment, had its world premiere Saturday night at the 45th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) but has been slapped with a punitive 16LNPSV rating over its content.
It means that The Showerhead - a documentary profile of the cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro known as Zapiro - will be seen and accessible by a much smaller potential audience when it's released in cinemas in September.
The FPB's 16LNPSV rating means that The Showerhead contains occurrences of moderate and possibly strong impact sexual activity, strong offensive language, nudity, prejudice, sex and violence.
Videovision Entertainment which produced the film will lodge an appeal with the Appeals Tribunal early this week.
The Showerhead title comes from Zapiro who started drawing former South African president Jacob Zuma with a showerhead following his 2006 rape trial where he admitted that he had sex with a young HIV-infected woman. Zuma said that he showered afterwards to prevent himself from getting HIV/Aids.
The Showerhead is a profile documentary of Jonathan Shapiro's life and tells his story as a liberation artist and a political detainee during Apartheid, to his emergence as a defender
of freedom of expression and his no-holds-barred career as a cartoonist.
The Showerhead, through a series of interviews, explores how Zapiro's cartoons have captured the essence of a variety of issues plaguing South Africa in the post-Nelson Mandela period like corruption and threats to freedom of expression.
Craig Tanner says "The irony of a film
about freedom of expression having extreme restrictions placed upon those who
might wish to see it is plainly lost on the guardians who sit on this
censorship panel, purporting to discharge what they consider to be their duty
of ensuring that young minds are not troubled or encouraged to think".
"Suppression of The Showerhead on the basis that it
involves sex and violence illustrates that the members of this panel have
failed to appreciate the distinction between gratuitous depiction of such
activities and use of metaphor as a creative device to explain social and
political issues."
"These are, after all, cartoons that have been published
in newspapers, are familiar images in the public domain, and have been the
subject of discussion, delight, offence and litigation on the national stage
for years."
Jonathan Shapiro says he was "genuinely taken aback and
extremely disappointed when told that The Showerhead has
been given a 16 age restriction".
"To describe this restriction as an
overreaction on the part of the censorship panel would be an understatement. A
panel such as this one, misconstruing the nature of this movie in this way is
reminiscent of the kind of restrictions imposed on us during the apartheid era
by the old censorship board. I hoped we had progressed somewhat
beyond this."
He says "A 16 rating also removes the possibility of showing
the movie in schools where my cartoons are widely used in classrooms, in exam
papers and in textbooks and in a number of subjects: history, art, economics,
English and other languages".
"I have often shown the most controversial
cartoons in this movie at school presentations where I have encountered young
people engaging in the issues raised by the cartoons. Trying to suppress young
people from thinking, engaging and questioning is not only futile but, in my
opinion, reactionary. I earnestly hope that the appeal board will assign a more
appropriate rating."
Producer Anant Singh says "The films that Videovision and I have produced, and distributed, have always
been at the forefront of telling stories that supported freedom of expression
and spoke out against injustices. Jonathan has done the same with his cartoons
over the last four decades".
"This rating goes against the very essence of
Jonathan's work and is a threat to freedom of expression in our land. It also
goes against the clear directive of our constitution. We hope the appeal
is successful and removes all the restrictions."
The FPB was asked several questions over the rating and for comment over the weekend.
Obakeng Maimane, FBP campaign and
outreach coordinator, on Monday said "We are unable to comment as an appeal has
been lodged with the Film and Publication Board".
