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17/07/2009
Singapore Censors Refuse to Classify One Nation Under Lee
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The Board of Film Censors (BFC) has refused to classify One Nation Under Lee (ONUL). The video documentary, directed by visual artist and activist Seelan Palay, was submitted to the authorities in May (see here) as a political film.
In a hand-delivered letter, the BFC noted that ONUL contains excerpts from my video Zahari's 17 Years, which has been gazetted as a banned film under Section 35 of the Films Act. As such, the BFC will not classify ONUL.
They suggested that a alternative version of ONUL be submitted, one that do not contain any scenes from Zahari's 17 Years.
I hereby spell out the legal status of ONUL as such :
- It is not classified or rated.
- It is not gazetted as a ban.
- However, any possession, exhibition or distribution of ONUL constitutes a criminal offence as it contains excerpts of Zahari's 17 Years, a banned film.
It is probably the only video submisssion in BFC's history that has been deemed unclassifiable.
The letter makes no mention that a copy of ONUL was already in BFC's possession long before my submission in May. The censors had seized a copy during its premiere last year.
Meanwhile, my other video Singapore Rebel is currently undergoing review by the Political Films Consultative Committee (PFCC).
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Download One Nation Under Lee here.
Watch Zahari's 17 Years here.
Watch the confiscation of ONUL here and here.
Watch Singapore Rebel here.
* The BFC comes under the purview of the Media Development Authority (MDA). It's motto is "Creative Media, Connected Society."
Click on the letter to enlarge.
10:19 Posted by soci | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this | Tags: one nation under lee, zahari's 17 years
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Comments
even if that 17 years is taken out, i doubt it will still be approved, thought it might be interesting to see what they may still say if that part is taken out.
Posted by: sc | 18/07/2009
http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/wasdin/wasdin75.jpg
"If you can't say 'fuck', you can't say 'fuck the government'".
Big deal that they've essentially "banned" it by refusing to classify it — by resorting to legalese and gobbledygook to effectively prevent the film from being screened. So what? Download it from the internet, and strike at the root.
MDA: "Creative Media, Connected Society."
Another pointless, empty government slogan which fits oh-so-nicely in our soundbite and sloganed world — with those artifacts designed to prevent you from using your cognitive faculties to evaluate the specious claims made by the state-controlled media.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/274081511_645e0f81b4.jpg?v=0
Posted by: Matilah_Singapura | 20/07/2009