South Africa’s film board bans Oscar short-listed movie

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s film board has banned an Oscar short-listed movie from family cinemas after complaints over its depiction of homosexuality.

“Inxeba” drew some protests for showing the relationship between two young men during traditional initiation rites but had been showing in theatres throughout most of the country.

But the Film & Publication Board has now reclassified the film so that it can be shown only in “designated adult premises.”

The film board says the complaints received from traditional leaders “were largely based on the perceived cultural insensitivity and distortion of the Xhosa circumcision tradition.”

The movie was South Africa’s official entry for the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.

The country’s top opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, says it “strongly condemns” the decision.