This film is not yet rated
US 2006, directed by Kirby Dick, with Darren Aronofsky, Jamie Babbit, Maria Bello, Atom Egoyan, John Waters, 97 minutes (Original version)
Films in the US are presented to the MPAA Rating Board, which then decides on possible age restrictions. In the minds of most Americans, the MPAA Rating Board is a governmental organization. But in fact, MPAA simply consists of the six »major studios« that control more than 95 percent of the American film industry. Usually, nobody knows who sits on the committee or how the rating is done. Since the ratings have an enormous influence on marketing a film, the committee holds a great deal of power.
In this film, director Kirby Dick unearths the way the MPAA Ratings Board has effectively engaged in a kind of censorship over the past fifteen years, and also discovers that many filmmakers have abandoned their ideals in the face of such opposition. One point of criticism made by Dick and others is that films with gay or lesbian sexual content are subject to harsher criteria than films showing heterosexual sex or explicit violence.
Regisseur Kirby Dick hat in den letzten 15 Jahren die »Zensur« durch die MPAA beobachtet und erlebt, dass viele Filmemacher ihre Ideale aufgaben. Ein Kritikpunkt für Dick und andere ist, dass Filme mit schwulen oder lesbischen sexuellen Inhalten schärfer bewertet werden, als die mit Heterosex-Szenen oder expliziter Gewaltdarstellung. Filmemacher vor die Kamera zu holen, die über ihre Erfahrungen sprechen, war schwer, doch John Waters (»A Dirty Shame«) oder Atom Egoyan (»Where the Truth Lies«) zeigten sich mutig.
It was difficult to get filmmakers to talk about their experience on camera, but John Waters (A Dirty Shame) and Atom Egoyan (Where the Truth Lies) were courageous enough to take this step. To find out the names of the members of the MPAA Ratings Board, Dick worked with private investigator Becky Altringer, and they were able to achieve what no journalist had been able to do for the past 30 years: they uncovered the names of all current members of the Ratings Board.
Naturally, Kirby Dirk also submitted his documentary to the MPAA Rating Board, and the film was given a NC-17 rating. But after the premiere at Sundance, the film received a standing ovation.
Friday | Jan. 16 | 11:30 am
