The initial classification of the film Inxeba (The Wound) as an adult film has been temporarily overruled on Tuesday, and will likely be screened at Pulp Cinema as part of the US Woordfees on Sunday, 11 March.
The ban on the controversial film has been lifted by a Pretoria High Court order and will therefore return to mainstream cinemas from Friday, 9 March, according to a News24 report.
The Film and Publication Board (FPB) Appeals Tribunal initially gave Inxeba an X18 rating, much to the dismay of the film’s producers, who then lodged an urgent interdict to overturn the ruling.
Danie Marais, public relations officer of Woordfees and coordinating organiser of Filmfees, has confirmed that Inxeba will be screened on Sunday.
“I am aware that the ban has been lifted temporarily until a hearing later this month, and will get in contact with the distributors to find out if there’s small print that I need to know of,” says Marais.
However, Werner de Swart, owner of Pulp Cinema, is still holding off on confirming the screening given the “politics of the film” but continues to say that it is “99 percent likely that Inxeba will be shown at Pulp Cinema.”
A scene from Inxeba (The Wound), which has caused controversy in South Africa. PHOTO: MF Cinerama
Qonda Jodwana (20), a BA Socio-Informatics student, was very happy to hear of the unbanning of the film.
“I’m Xhosa and I felt like our people were actually being unreasonable because they made the film about the traditional ceremony, about going to the mountain, and shied away from the fact that the movie was actually about homosexuals when they are there and how they are being treated,” says Jodwana.
However, Luhle Shumi (21), a Chemical Engineering student, is disappointed in the unbanning of the film as he believes it reveals a sacred part of his isiXhosa culture.
“I do not like the fact that the movie is being unbanned because [it] is showing something that we as Xhosa men do not want people to see but rather to experience,” says Shumi.