RATING TO BE APPEALED
The Showerhead which focuses on the work of renowned cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro, known by his pen name Zapiro, is billed as ‘a defiant documentary of cartooning, corruption, and the courage to speak truth to power’ has received a punitive 16 L N P SV rating for its cinema release following a unanimous decision of the Film and Publication Board’s Classification Committee. The Showerhead will have its World Premiere as the Closing Night Film of the Durban Film Festival on Saturday, 27 July.
The 16 L N P SV rating (which is being appealed) indicates that the film contains occurrences of moderate and possibly strong impact sexual activity, strong offensive language, nudity, prejudice, sex and violence.
Directed by South African-born Craig Tanner and produced by Videovision Entertainment’s Anant Singh, The Showerhead, tells Zapiro’s story from his rootsas a liberation artist and political detainee during Apartheid, to his emergence as a steadfast defender of freedom of expression, and his no-holds barred response to the current complex political climate in our democratic South Africa.
Featuring a series of interviews, The Showerhead reveals how Zapiro’s cartoons have captured the essence of a variety of issues plaguing the country in the post-Mandela period, including those of failures of leadership, subversion of the Constitution and the rule of law, corruption and threats to freedom of expression.
Director, Craig Tanner stated, “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.”
Zapiro commented, “I 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 verkrampte censorship board. I hoped we had progressed somewhat beyond this.”
“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 supress 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,” added Zapiro.
Producer Anant Singh said, “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 appeal will be lodged with the Appeals Tribunal early next week.
The Showerhead is scheduled to be released at cinemas in South Africa in September this year.
