31-01-2014

Romania Relents on Nymphomaniac: Volume II

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    Nymphomaniac by Lars von Trier Nymphomaniac by Lars von Trier

    BUCHAREST: After an appeal by distributor Independenţa Film, the rating commission of the National Centre for Cinema reversed the decision to ban Lars von Trier’s film Nymphomaniac: Volume II from cinemas.

    The general director of the CNC said that he would not tolerate censorship.

    “As long as I will be the director of the National Centre for Cinema, there won’t be any censorship in the cinemas,” Kogălniceanu told Mediafax agency. He also replaced the president of the rating commission with another member, but he didn’t say whether he will change the commission. The commission has now nine members, but only one is a film critic, and another one has worked in film distribution.

    Mihail Ioan Kogălniceanu, who has been the acting general director of the National Centre for Cinema since May 2013, saw the film in a private screening on 29 January. There has been a huge current of opinion in the media and social media against the decision to rate Nymphomaniac: Volume II  I.M.-18-XXX (Forbidden under 18 and for public screenings).

    This is the second time that the national censors have banned a film. The first was Saw IV, but the distributor appealed and the commission changed the rating to I.M.-18 (Forbidden under 18).

    The first volume of von Trier’s film was rated I.M.-18 and has sold more than 15,000 tickets since 17 January, Antoine Bagnaninchi, the general manager of Independenţa Film told FNE, which is very good result for an European film. It is expected that Nymphomaniac: Volume II will be a hit when it opens on 7 February.

    The president of the Culture Committee of the Senate, Georgică Severin, and the minister of Culture, Gigel Ştirbu, openly expressed their disapproval for banning the film saying that it would be a step back for a young democracy. Romania would have been the first European country to ban Nymphomaniac.