Apr 16, 2007, 11:17 GMT
Singapore - The Danish animated film Princess has been withdrawn from the Singapore International Film Festival after censors ruled that it denigrated a religious symbol, a cross, organizers said Monday.
The production, the first animated feature from Danish director Anders Morgenthaler, focuses on a missionary priest who seeks to erase his dead sister's past as a porn star. It had been selected to open the prestigious Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
The Board of Film Censors said it contained a scene in which 'a cross is displayed in an objectionable way' in the lower half of the body of a woman in a nun's habit.[00:50 secs. in trailer]
Board guidelines prohibit 'films with content denigrating a religion or a religious symbol.'
Solos, a Singapore production, was also found objectionable. The board said it contained 'prolonged and explicit homosexual lovemaking scenes, including scenes of oral sex and threesome sex.'
It was one of 11 films selected to participate in the competition for the festival's Silver Screen Award for best Asian feature.
Hundreds of films are scheduled to be shown during the festival starting this week. While firms are regularly shown in Singapore with cuts of scenes and language, the festival only shows uncut productions.
Princess
Due to his sister's death, the 32 year old August returns and consequently abandons his profession as a missionary priest. His beloved sister Christina, who went from greatness to decay as the famous porn-star The Princess, is dead after years of drug abuse. She leaves behind her 5-year old daughter Mia, whom August feels obliged to take care of. Weighed down by grief and guilt he decides to revenge the dead of Christina - and takes Mia on a mission to destroy all existing pornographic material featuring The Princess. The mission escalates into a brutal and violent rout, where August is desperately trying to protect the only precious thing in his life, Mia, why he is forced to make a fatal decision. Written by Martin Stoltenborg Christensen
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