Critically acclaimed and internationally controversial film Brokeback Mountain has been released in New Zealand, but questions are being asked why it is missing from the schedule in many small towns. Timaru movie theatre Manager Stu Johnson says that people are asking questions about whether the film is being censored from provincial audiences, but asserts that it is the distributors, not the individual movie theatres, that decide where a film is to be screened; and that it was decided that it will not be economically viable to show the film in some smaller centres. Only 18 copies of the gay cowboy film are in the country, and each additional print costs the distributor $4000. With the amount of publicity over this film in particular, Johnson says it is likely that prints will be moved to small towns for screening after the bigger city theatres have finished playing it.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 22nd February 2006 - 12:00pm