Donkey Love Last Straw for Landmark Cinemas (CHBC news)
Sinikka Crosland
Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to the alert about this. It's unlikely that a new venue can be found at this late date. Despite Heynen's positive comment about not supporting the subject matter, the film trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1BePpr7xW0) unfortunately seems to rely on sensationalism and shock value, and depicts the practice of raping donkeys as a big joke. Hopefully the film makers have learned that abuse is neither an art form nor comedy material.
_________________________
http://www.chbcnews.ca/donkey+love+last+straw+for+landmark+cinemas/6442729304/story.html
The
Okanagan Film Festival is looking for a new venue now that Landmark Cinemas has
pulled out.
The two
organizations have been doing business together for years, but their
relationship hit a sour note following news that festival organizers planned on
showing a film about bestiality.
The movie is called Donkey Love
and depicts how men in Columbia have sex with donkeys as part of their
culture.
Landmark says
that’s going overboard and has pulled the plug.
"That
was the cherry on top of it," says Landmark Cinemas CEO, Neil Campbell. "He
[organizer Jeremy Heyden] neglected to tell us until it hit the media. We're
done."
Festival organizer, Jeremy Heyden, says Landmark is judging the
film without even seeing it.
"Don't
attack the messenger before he can deliver the message. The message has been
perverted just because of the subject matter. That doesn't mean the documentary
is supporting the subject matter. In fact, we are against this and we wish there
was something we could do to stop it."
Heyden
says that he’s been the subject of threats and has filed a complaint with the
RCMP.
He says he may have
to cancel this year’s festival unless he finds a new venue.
The festival was supposed to
kick off next week at the Paramount theatre in downtown Kelowna.
Read it on Global News: CHBC Okanagan | Donkey Love last straw for Landmark Cinemas