Censorship in South Africa

Censorship

Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the government or media organizations as determined by a censor.

Censorship in South Africa

General censorship

In 1963 the Publications and Entertainment Bill was passed. This stipulated **. PUBLICATIONS AND ENTERTAINMENT ACT no. 26 (1963). Prior to 1963, censorship was exercised by Customs, which meant locally-produced works were not subject to any censorship. This Act - which stayed in operation up to the passing of the Publications Act of 1974 - founded the first censorship board in South Africa, consisting of nine members, of which six were in charge of art, language and literature, allowing also for domestic censorship of ‘undesirable’ works. Although a provision was made for an appeal to the Supreme Court, this option was seldom exercised in practice. In all, an average of about 70 films per year, and 7000 publications were banned in the decade in which this Act was in operation. (See Gosher, 1988) [JH] PUBLICATIONS APPEAL BOARD. Higher authority called into being by the Publications Act of 1974. This body handled appeals against bannings previously referred to the Supreme Court and sat in-camera with interested parties. (See Gosher, 1988) [JH] PUBLICATIONS ACT (1974). Supplanted the 1963 Publications and Entertainment Act. While retaining the strict provisions and criterion of ‘undesirability’, it closed some loopholes and replaced the right of appeal to the Supreme Court with an inhouse Publications Appeal Board. (See Gosher, 1988) [JH] See Smith, 1990, pp45-47.

All banned items were listed in the Government Gazette and a complete list of all publications and films, as per the regulations of the Customs Act no. 55 of 1955, in alphabetical order, together with authors, which were prohibited from being imported into the Republic of South Africa, were listed weekly in Jacobsen's Index of Objectionable Literature, published by Jacobsen's Publishers in Pretoria.

Censorship and theatre

Censored productions and plays

See banned musicals for blasphemy: Hair, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar. Amendations to: Three Months Gone; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Censorship and Film

Under the apartheid regime, South Africa had one of the most exhaustive film censorship systems of any country in the Western world. About 1,300 films a year were studied, often frame by frame. Cuts for nudity, language and politics were the subjects of lengthy public appeals argued by batteries of lawyers.

Films depicting interracial couples were considered immoral and were banned and/or censored for content as were scenes depicting nudity among the European community by the ruling party - the James Bond films Live and Let Die and A View To A Kill had love scenes which were censored by the South African government. Some films, such as the obviously pornographic or "blue movies," were banned outright, but many were allowed to be screened only after being heavily cut.

Many films were not submitted to the Publications Control Board because the local distributors realised that they would, in all probability, be banned. Apart from the few listed here, it is beyond the scope of this website and those films have not been listed.

The 1976 United Artists release, DRUM, directed by Steve Carver and starring Warren Oates, Pam Grier and Ken Norton, was a sequel to Mandigo but was not submitted to the Publications Control Board for release in South Africa.

The infamous (1980) Cannibal Holocaust, a horror film produced as part of the contemporary cannibal trend of Italian exploitation cinema, was also never submitted to the Publications Control Board. The script was written by Gianfranco Clerici and directed by Ruggero Deodato. The story is about an anthropologist from New York University who leads a rescue team into the Amazon rainforest to locate a crew of filmmakers who went to photograph a tribe of cannibals but all of whom subsequently went missing. Only some film canisters were found. Starring Robert Kerman, Luca Barbareschi, Francesca Ciardi, Carl Gabriel Yorke, and Perry Pirkanen. Cannibal Holocaust was inspired by Italian media coverage of Red Brigades' terrorism.

Here is a list of banned movies, missing details are to follow:

In 1910 the first film to be banned in South Africa was The Johnson-Jeffries Fight. It was banned because the footage depicted the black boxer Jack Johnson defeating the white boxer James J. Jeffries. This film inspired race riots in the American South.

In 1939, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, a Warner Bros film directed by Anatole Litvak and based on real-life events about a Nazi spy ring uncovered in the United States, was banned in South Africa a few months before the outbreak of the Second World War. There were a considerable number of people of German extraction living in the country and the United Party (the ruling party), did not want to upset them. The film starred Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, Paul Lukas, Lya Lys and Grace Stafford.

1963: Lillies of The Field. Sidney Poitier won an Oscar for his charismatic, funny performance in this warm-hearted film about a wandering handyman. Five German nuns wanting to build a chapel in the desert believe his arrival was the miracle they had been praying for. But the uplifting story of a handsome, articulate Black man battling and bonding with five stubborn women of faith did not impress the newly established SA Publications Control Board (PCB) led by an 80-year-old Professor Gerrit Dekker. The film was banned but unbanned in 1973.

1964: Zulu 1964. This spectacular action epic starring Michael Caine is about the battle of Rorke's Drift. The film was not allowed to be shown to "natives". White audiences were allowed to watch it.

1965: A Patch Of Blue. Sidney Poitier plays Gordon Ralfe, a quiet, well-educated black man who met a young blind illiterate white woman named Selina in a park and befriended her. Soon they were meeting every day and Gordon found out how she lost her sight as a child. She was still living with her abusive prostitute mother (played by Oscar-winning actress, Shelley Winters) and alcoholic grandfather. He also discovered she was raped by one of her mother's clients. Gordon located a school for the blind which was willing to take Selina in, but her mother had other sordid plans for the girl - who, by that time, was in love with Gordon. The Publications Control Board banned this touching, but never sentimental, film - which received multiple Oscar and Golden Globe nominations and was a box office hit in America.

1965: The Pawnbroker was a critically lauded film about a haunted concentration camp survivor (played by Oscar-nominated Rod Steiger) was banned because the PCB deems that “it is offensive to see a “Bantu" female baring her breasts for a white man.

1967: Many films with Black actors were banned outright, such as the 1967 British drama film starring Sidney Poitier, To Sir - With Love, which deals with social and racial issues in an inner-city school.

1967: Helga – Vom Werden des menschlichen Lebens also referred to simply as Helga, is a 1967 West German sex education documentary and the first film of the Helga trilogy, starring Ruth Gassmann as Helga. Its release in West Germany was followed by international releases in many countries but in South Africa, it could only be shown to segregated audiences. Men and women were not allowed to watch it together.

1967: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer and written by William Rose. Starring Spencer Tracy (in his final role), Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn. It depicted interracial marriage in a positive light, which did not impress the South African censors.

1968: Bonnie and Clyde,

1968: The Graduate,

1968: Blow Up,

1968: In The Heat Of The Night,

1968: Finian's Rainbow,

1968: Witchfinder General,

1968: The Killing of Sister George.

1970: The Great White Hope,

1970: The Landlord,

1970: Tick, Tick, Tick.

1971: The Devils,

1971: A Clockwork Orange, a 1971 film adapted, produced, and directed by director Stanley Kubrick and based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was considered to be one of the most violent films ever made. It fell foul of the country's censors and was banned for 13 years.

1971: Joe Bullit, Produced in 1971 and released in 1973 in the Eyethu cinema in Soweto, it was banned by the Apartheid government after only two screenings. It was one of the first local films to feature an all-African cast starring Ken Gampu and Abigail Kubeka. It is about a local soccer team that fell prey to a mysterious gangster. It was later unbanned by the Minister of Communication but never re-released.

1971: Billy Jack,

1971: Soldier Blue,

1971: The Dunwich Horror.

1972: Three Bullets For A Long Gun (local spaghetti western starring Beau Brummel)

1973: The Exorcistis an American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran (in his final film role), Jason Miller and Linda Blair.

1973: The Wicker Man,

1973: The Big Boss (Bruce Lee),

1973: Shaft In Africa,

1974: Soldier Blue,

1974: The Exorcist,

1974: Enter the Dragon,

1974: Blazing Saddles,

1974: Lenny,

1974: The Klansman,

1974: The Wilby Conspiracy,

1974: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,

1974: CarrY on Dick.

1975: Seven Beauties,

1975: The Whispering Death,

1975: Mandingo, a 1975 Paramount Pictures film, the screenplay of which was by Norman Wexler who adapted it from the 1957 novel, Mandingo, by Kyle Onstott. It is a historical melodrama about the relationship between White masters and Black slaves in the United States. Directed by Dino De Laurentiis, it starred Ken Norton, Perry King, James Mason, Brenda Sykes and Susan George.

1975: The film version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The film was shot in the United Kingdom and starred Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick. The apartheid censors were shocked into banning it.

1975: Race with the Devil,

1975: The Devil's Rain,

1975: The Trial of Billy Jack,

1975: Die Square (local)

1976: 1900 (Bernardo Bertolucci).

1977: The Search for Sandra Laing, directed by Anthony Thomas. The film tells the true story of a young girl who was classified as "coloured" by the apartheid government, though both her parents were "white", and the effects this had on their family and their community. (Labs started using DNA to establish paternity in questioned cases in the 1980s.)

1977: Looking For Mr Goodbar.

1977: Messenger of God.

1978: Up in Smoke, (also referred to as Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke) is an American comedy film directed by Lou Adler which glorified the use of marijuana and which upset the FBP.

1978: Pretty Baby, directed by Louis Malle, is a film which caused significant controversy due to its depiction of child prostitution and the nude scenes of Brooke Shields, who was 12 years old at the time of filming. Fearing a moral panic, apartheid censors moved to block the release of the film.

1978: Last Tango In Paris, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and starring Maria Schneider and Marlon Brando. This controversial film was banned because of the full-frontal nudity and a scene in which Paul, Marlon's character, rapes Schneider’s character, Jeanne, using a stick of butter as a lubricant. Schneider was not told about the scene before it was shot.

1978: I Spit On Your Grave. After being gang raped (in a horrific 25-minute sequence) by a group of rural louts and left for dead, writer Jennifer Hills recovers from her injuries and asks God to forgive her for what she is about to do. She then goes on a revenge spree which only ends when she has killed her rapists and castrated their leader. This graphically violent, low-budget, exploitation film, from Israeli director Meir Zarchi - which noted critic Roger Ebert called "a vile bag of garbage" - is unpleasant to watch, but there is something to be said for seeing a strong female survivor take bloody revenge on her abusers and the film made a small fortune on the international grindhouse circuit. Camille Keaton, who played Jennifer Hills and later married Zarchi, has always defended the movie, saying "the film was inspired by true events after Meir Zarchi rescued a woman who'd been raped, so I don't think it's exploitative, it's empowering to women". There are feminists who now share her opinion, but the film remains controversial.

1979: Hair, an American musical anti-war comedy-drama film directed by Miloš Forman. Storyline: Claude Bukowski leaves the family ranch in Oklahoma for New York City where he is rapidly embraced into the hippie group of youngsters led by Berger, yet he had already been drafted. He soon falls in love with Sheila Franklin, a rich girl but still a rebel inside. The movie was banned probably because of the depiction of racial mingling, use of drugs, care less about societal values, and "immorality". Starring John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo, Annie Golden, Dorsey Wright, Don Dacus, Cheryl Barnes, Melba Moore and Ronnie Dyson. The record was also banned.

1979: Monty Python's Life of Brian, Directed by Terry Jones. The film tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Chapman), a young Jewish-Roman man who is born on the same day as — and next door to — Jesus. He is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah. Banned under the apartheid regime because of blasphemous content.

1979: A Game For Vultures was banned by the censor board, who deemed it "a threat to state security".

1980: Cruising, Directed by William Friedkin. This film is about a serial killer who targets gay people.

1980: Friday The 13th,

1980: Dressed To Kill.

1981: The Grass is Singing,

1981: The Howling.

1983: Under Fire, because it "might sow the seeds of revolution in South Africa”.

1987: Cry Freedom, a 1987 biography about Steve Biko starring Kevin Kline, Penelope Wilton and Denzel Washington. Directed by Richard Attenborough. This never passed the apartheid censors. Ster-Kinekor released the movie and it was subsequently banned. The police arrived at night whilst the movie was showing and insisted on shutting it down. They then confiscated the movie. Only hours after Cry Freedom won its approval from the government censors and made its South African premiere, the authorities banned it as a threat to public safety. They seized the film reels from at least 30 theatres nationwide.

1988: Mapantsula, a South African made crime film directed by Oliver Schmitz and written by Schmitz and Thomas Mogotlane. It is the story of Johannes 'Panic' Themba Mzolo (Mogotlane), a small-time thief, and is set against the backdrop of Apartheid. Its release was prohibited.

1988: Biko: the Spirit Lives, by Terrence Francis. The film describes Steve Biko’s leadership of the Black Consciousness Movement and the events leading up to his death.

1988: The Cry of Reason: Beyers Naudé — an Afrikaner Speaks Out Released in 1988, the film is about one man’s journey from supporting apartheid, to his active opposition to it. Directed by Robert Bilheimer.

1988: A World Apart,

1988: The Stick (local),

1988: Shot Down (local).

1989: A Dry White Season,

1989: The Shadowed Mind (local),

1989: The Last Temptation of Christ,

1991: Songololo : Voices of Change is a film by Marianne Kaplan and Cari Green which focuses on Gcina Mhlope and Mzwakhe Mbuli and the ways in which culture and artistic performance contributed to their struggle against apartheid.

1992: The Long Journey of Clement Zulu documents the reintegration into society and their old lives of Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, James Mange, and Clement Zulu after their release from Robben Island in 1991. Directed by Liz Fish.

1994: The Comrade King a film by Ben Horowitz. It is about King Sabata Dalindyebo’s life and his reburial by the Thembu nation.

1995: Kids is an American coming-of-age drama film directed by Larry Clark and written by Harmony Korine. The first banned film in the democratic era came from Hollywood. Kids tells the story of an unruly group of young teenagers who indulge in casual sex, violence and drugs – it was banned between 1995 – 1997.

In 1996 The Film and Publication Board, or FPB, was established under the Film and Publications Act. This board was created as a content classification and regulation authority, operating under the Minister of Communications and they often ordered certain cuts to be made before the film was shown. The FPB's purpose was ostensibly to tackle issues of child pornography and child abuse, as well as to provide ratings to publicly consumed media such as movies, music and television programs. Under these directives, its mandate could be considered one of state censorship. Many South Africans would travel across the borders, for what were known as "dirty weekends", to countries such as Swaziland (now Eswatini), Basutoland (now Lesotho) and Bechuanaland (now Botswana) where they would be able to watch films (and buy books) that were banned in South Africa.

2013: Of Good Report, a South African romantic thriller film, was banned by the National Film and Video Foundation for containing scenes of "child pornography". The plot is about a 16-year-old-girl who has sex with a teacher. It was deemed to be ‘too graphic’. This decision was later overturned after an appeal by the producers of the film. The film was directed by Jahmil X.T. Qubeka and starred Mothusi Magano as Parker Sithole, Petronella Tshuma as Nolitha Ngubane, Tshamano Sebe as Vuyani, Lee-Ann Van Rooi as Constable Arendse, Tina Jaxa as the Headmistress, Thobi Mkhwanazi as Squeeza, Nomhle Nkonyeni as the Landlady, Lihlebo Magugu as Sipho, Frances Ndlazilwana as the Grandmother and Mary Twala as Esther Sithole.

2017: Inxeba…, also known as The Wound. (Not to be confused with the 1978 Ted Hughes radio-play also called The Wound) This Xhosa language film directed by John Trengove and co-written by Malusi Bengu and Thando Mgqolozana is about a group of young men who travel to the Eastern Cape countryside for their traditional initiation. It deals with same-sex relations and was briefly classified by the FBP as an X18, up from its initial rating of 16LS. The X-rating meant that the movie could no longer be screened in local cinemas before the ban was overturned in court.

The "Banned Film Circuit"

When The Film and Publication Board took it upon themselves to decide what was good or bad for the morals of the South African population, they deprived the country's citizens the right to make their own decisions regarding when and what they wanted to see.

During the late 1960s, film rental stores started opening up in major centres. Groups of people would get together, hire 16mm films and film projectors and club together to pay the rental costs. This was a great way for them to see those movies which they had missed on their initial release. It was also a great way to reach people in rural communities without "bioscopes" to show films in small groups. These were usually rolled onto three of four spools and were projected either onto a screen or a white wall. Business boomed for the film-hire stores and many banned movies were consequently smuggled into the country. As much as the Government tried to prevent these films from entering the country, they were unable to stop them many were soon on the "banned film circuit".

In order to see these movies, you had to "know" someone in the industry who had access to copies of them. You had to have a personal introduction to join a group but once accepted, you were regularly informed about the viewings. Venues were set up and kept secret until the last moment. Then word would get out, you would go to the designated person's home and pay your share of the hiring costs. The screenings were usually held at night. There, two projectors were set up, one with a "legal" film, the other with the first reel of the "banned" movie.

The first reel would be run for a few minutes, then stopped and the second projector with the banned movie would start. This was done in case the police found out about the viewing and were preparing to "raid" the screening. This system would give enough time to switch off the projector and remove the banned film and to switch on the "legal" film. Assuming there was no raid, you watched the first reel of the "banned" movie until it was finished. Then a "runner" would take the reel to another venue, where a similar scenario was underway, and the first group would wait for the second reel. The screening would carry on in this manner until the complete movie had been shown. The vast majority of these viewings were seen without the police even being aware of the screenings. It was rumoured that if the police managed to confiscate a banned movie, they would later have their own private viewings.

Members of the Medical Reaction Forces used to illegally watch blue movies. If the Military Police (MPs) raided, the movie was paused and the doctor would get up and lecture about the sexual organs of the body. As the doctors were also officers, the MPs would not confiscate these videos but other troops had their movies confiscated if caught.

Sometimes pornographic, or "blue" movies, were shown as well, the best-known being Debbie Does Dallas and Behind the Green Door.

Sources

The New York Times, January 1, 1940.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Cannibal_Holocaust

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mandingo_(film)

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Drum_(1976_film)

Information supplied by Grant Aubin, retired film critic for the Eastern Province Herald.

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