By Oscar Obonyo
The Kalasha Film and Television Awards takes place in the wake of the much-publicised ban on a Kenyan movie, Otto: The Bloodbath, by the Kenya Film Censorship Board (KFCB).
The event recognises talent in the film industry and celebrates the growth and success of filmmaking in Kenya. However, some view the recent ban of Jitu Film’s production as a contradiction of this effort.
Counting loses that range in millions of shillings, the producers of the horror film are unable to comprehend why such an investment would be discarded in a flash. KFCB’s decision, they argue, is counter productive to the growth of the film industry. In a letter to Jitu Films, signed by the board’s Chief Executive Officer David Pkosing, the board said the film is "too horrific even to an adult".
KFCB’s guidelines list five classifiable thematic areas: Violence and crime; sex, obscenity and nudity; horror and occult; drugs, smoking, tobacco and alcohol; religion and community.
Under violence and crime, the assessors look out for excessive blood, dismembers or disfigured limbs or bodies, images of dead or seriously injured people, explicit cruelty or violence towards animals.
Explicit images
On the theme of sex, obscenity and nudity, the censorship board scans for nudity, kissing, exposure or fondling of female breast or human or animal sexual organs and explicit images of sexual activity.
Horror or violence related to occult, exorcism, the paranormal, divination or human and animal sacrifice are the elements that assessors look for under the ‘horror and occult’ theme. Regarding ‘drugs, smoking, tobacco, solvent and alcohol’, the areas of interest include the use of illegal or narcotic drugs or tobacco and tobacco products or smoking, the abuse or misuse of drugs, alcohol/solvent or other such harmful products.
And under ‘religion and community’, the assessors are keen on distortion, demeaning or depicting religious or community symbols or idols and rituals or practices in derogatory manner. "In all the thematic areas, we subject these classifiable elements to our rating of 0 to 5 — meaning ‘0’ stands for very low classifiable elements, thus the film is classified as General Exhibition (GE) and ‘5’ stands for extreme — meaning that film will be restricted or banned," explains Pkosing.
The other ratings include ‘2’ for mild, which means that film will be rated as parental guidance (PG), ‘3’ for moderate, meaning the film will be rated for ages 16 and ‘4’, which means strong, and the movie will be rated 18/Adult.
However, Pkosing warns that any film that induces, incites, justifies or glorifies violence, terror as well as explicit sex and occultism will not be vetted. Such will outrightly be banned.
