"Mysterious Skin" may be banned in Australian cinemas

Gregg Araki, the director of "Mysterious Skin" is very suprised that his movie created such controversy in Australia and may be banned in cinemas.

"The fact (is) that the film has opened already in so many other countries with no incident, no problem with censorship or anything", Araki said.

Federal Attorney General Philip Ruddock has issued a complaint to the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification on the movie, as he had been advised by South Australian counterpart Michael Atkinson after complaints by the Australian Family Association.


"The guidelines for the classification of films say that 'films and computer games will be refused classification if they contain depictions or descriptions of child sexual abuse'. The board's report makes clear that this film includes just that", Mr. Atkinson said.

"Mysterious Skin" was classified R 18+ and will be set a date for a hearing.

"I have always thought of Australia as a very sort of progressive, sophisticated, cosmopolitan place. So to run into this roadblock is surprising", the director of the movie added.


"Mysterious Skin" is a film that explores the hearts and minds of two very different boys who come to find the key to their future happiness lies in the exorcism of their collective demons. The two boys remember incidents of sexual abuse, but in totally different ways.

Based on a novel by Scott Heim, the movie stars 3rd Rock from the Sun actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil and Brady Corbet as Brian.

According to Araki, "Mysterious Skin", which debuted at last year's Venice Film Festival, is a powerful story, that "deals with the aftermath of this abuse in a very truthful and a very sort of unflinching kind of way".

Critic Margaret Pomeranz supported the film she had seen in Venice by saying "it has been so carefully done to protect the children acting. It is about the damage that pedophilia does, and it might give a great deal of comfort to adults who have previously suffered".

According to Troy Lum, head of distributor Hopscotch Films, it is an "embarrassment that this film is even being debated in Australia and has more to say about faults in the current system rather than the prudishness of the general Australian".

The child-abuse film was set be shown at the Melbourne International Film Festival later this week before opening nationally next month. However, the screenings depend on the outcome of the Office of Film and Literature review of the movie, which has been described as tough and confronting, although it contains no explicit sex scenes.