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"Destricted," a compilation of films by acclaimed artists about pornography, is now playing in Moscow, after a delay its distributors blamed on censorship.

By Alastair Gee
Published: August 31, 2007

Moscow cinema audiences finally saw last week what they've been waiting three months for: a film about a 21-year-old from the United States who is brought in front of a camera, given a choice of porn stars and allowed to carry out his sexual fantasies with one of them.

The 38-minute short by controversial U.S. filmmaker Larry Clark, best known for his teen drama "Kids," is one of seven sexually explicit movies about pornography that make up the compilation "Destricted," now showing in Moscow. Most contributors are internationally acclaimed artists, including Britain's Sam Taylor-Wood and New York-based conceptualist Matthew Barney.

But according to the film's Russian distributors, "Destricted" almost didn't make it to the capital's cinema screens. It was shown at this year's Moscow International Film Festival in late June, but its planned cinema release later that month was repeatedly postponed, amid rumors of a ban from the Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency.

The film had a limited cinema release in Britain and the United States last year.

Sem Klebanov, president of the movie's Russian distributor, Cinema Without Frontiers, said Wednesday that he submitted the film to the cinema agency a few weeks before the Moscow International Film Festival to obtain approval for general release. However, "they said it couldn't be shown because it was an amoral film, it was pornography," he said. He declined to name the officials he had spoken with.

In July and August, newspapers speculated on the reasons why the release of the film, whose Russian title is "Banned from Cinemas," was pushed back. "Employees of the Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency perceived the name of the film as telling them how to act," Izvestia suggested on Aug. 20.

According to the agency, though, the reasons for the holdup were merely procedural, and fault lay with Klebanov's company. "Certification was given as soon as all the necessary documents were received," said Yelena Uvarova, the agency's press secretary, on Wednesday. She wouldn't specify which documents were late, but added that the explicit content of the film was not a factor in the delay.

For his part, Klebanov maintains that his company filed all the documents they usually submit, and that in previous cases certification had only taken two weeks.

Even though "Destricted" finally received certification, it looks like opponents of pornography need not worry: At a recent showing, audience member after audience member got up and left, seemingly more out of boredom than disgust.

Selected for screening at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals in 2006, "Destricted" is described as a series of reflections on how pornography affects society. Highlights include Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic's "Balkan Erotic Epic," which is refreshingly uncomplicated where other contributions seem laden with intellectual baggage.

Abramovic solemnly narrates how sexual rituals are integrated into traditional Balkan culture: Farmers hump the ground to ensure a successful crop, and women give their husbands a drink containing a fish that was stored in their vaginas to ensure fidelity. "Long live our Slavic faith," Abramovic's subjects sing as they massage their breasts during a fertility rite.

Clark's contribution, meanwhile, deftly reveals the unglamorous side of pornography as Daniel, the nervous star, questions his possible sexual partners: He finds out that one was raped as a teenager, and that another began acting in porn movies because she was desperate for money. Their rapturous descriptions of their favorite sexual activities seem fake and cliched.

"The film is especially interesting in Russia because what happened in the 1960s and '70s in the West -- the sexual revolution -- happened in Russia in the '90s," argued Klebanov, who also presents a film show on the state-owned Kultura television channel. "We only recently began to consider the role of sex in our lives."

The film was only permitted in Russia for viewing by over-21s, although at a Monday night showing at 35MM cinema, no one checked viewers' ID. Giggles punctuated the showing, as did the silhouettes of dissatisfied audience members exiting the hall -- of around 50 viewers, only 15 were left by the end. Perhaps, due to publicity surrounding the rumored ban, the film had been misconstrued as actual pornography.

While watching the first section, Barney's opaque "Hoist," one woman voiced a protest. As a moss-covered man was shown masturbating under a crane at a construction site, she shouted out, "Give me back my 200 rubles."

"Destricted" (Zapreshcheno k Pokazu) is playing at 35MM and Fitil. See the cinema listings for details.

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