The producers of Singaporean satire comedy film #LookAtMe, which was banned by local media authorities who deemed it could cause rifts in the country’s multi-racial and religious society, will not be fighting to have it shown in local cinemas.
The producers issued a statement today saying that they will not be appealing to the Infocomm Media Development Authority, or IMDA, for a reclassification of their film.
“After much internal deliberation, we the producers of #LookAtMe have decided not to appeal the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) ban on our film, #LookAtMe,” the statement said.
The crew said they studied past appeals on films with LGBTQ or religious content and found that their appeal would have “exceedingly slim” chances of being successful and they would have to pay a S$500 fee, adding to their losses in local box office revenue due to the ban.
This came a week after they said they will do so the day IMDA announced that the film will be barred domestically as it does not meet its film classification guidelines and instead “denigrates a religious community” and might “cause enmity and social division.” The producers said they were “disappointed” with their decision and “disagree” with their reasons for the ban.
The film, by filmmaker and playwright Ken Kwek, premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival in July. It stars Yao, Adrian Pang, Pam Oei and Ching Shu Yi.
#LookAtMe is inspired by true events and centers around a YouTuber who calls out a homophobic megachurch pastor online in defense of his gay twin brother. He then receives immense backlash from the public and goes against the pastor, who IMDA said resembled a real one in Singapore which might stir hate and be “offensive, defamatory and contrary” to religious beliefs.
The Singapore International Film Festival, which returns next month with 101 films from 57 countries, told The Straits Times yesterday that the film will continue to be included in the program despite not being screened in local cinemas.
The producers today thanked the festival for their support but “remain saddened” that they cannot share the film with Singapore audiences.
This is not the first of Kwek’s films to be barred locally. His 2013 film Sex.Violence.FamilyValues was banned for allegedly containing racist dialogue but was re-released later after being edited.
#LookAtMe is the latest example of Singapore’s censorship of media containing content that doesn’t align with the city-state’s promotion of socially conservative values.
Fashion magazine Vogue had its one-year permit revoked earlier this month for violating content guidelines by including nudity and content that “promoted non-traditional families,” according to the Ministry of Communications and Information.
Disney’s Lightyear was also smacked with an NC-16 rating for a brief depiction of same-sex parents earlier this year.
After announcing that Section 377a of the Penal Code will be repealed in August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong assured the conservatives that there won’t be any changes to other policies such as film classifications, and would not allow same-sex marriages anytime soon.
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