‘Of Good Report’ hits SA Film and Publications Board with R28m lawsuit
The makers of controversial movie 'Of Good Report' have sued the South African Film and Publications Board (FPB) for ruling that it contains child pornography and banning it, a verdict that was later overturned.
‘Of Good Report’ move poster. Image courtesy imdb.com.
The Jahmil XT Qubeka directed noir film tells the story of an illicit affair between introverted school teacher Parker Sithole (Mothusi Magano) and one of his new pupils, sixteen-year-old Nolitha (Petronella Tshuma), which spirals out of control and ends in disaster. At the centre of the earlier controversy is a passionate sex scene between the two, which the South African Film and Publications Board claimed bordered on “child pornography”.
The Star reports that the FPB is being hit with a R28m claim for damages suffered and also for the loss of possible earnings due to them “incorrectly” ruling that the movie contained child pornography.
Forced to explain himself after the controversial ban in July, an incredulous Qubeka said the film is, if anything, denouncing what the FPB accused him of, saying that it is “making an indictment… For teenagers this is a horror film. I want kids, particularly girls, to watch this and I want to scare them”.
“I’m not sad for me,” he added.
“This has turned me into a superstar. My life has changed in a week. I’ve been in Variety magazine… three times. What I am sad for is my nation because my nation was refused the right to see the film.”
With the ban lifted, Of Good Report was released in cinemas across South Africa on 6 August. It has been classified with a 16VSN rating.
– TEAMtalk Media
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