New movie about Scientology might not get released here due to blasphemy laws

steddyeddy

From Entertainment.ie.

Put simply this is an affront to freedom of speech and has no place in 2016. Separation of church and state my ar£e.

It's looking increasingly like his highly anticipated feature film, My Scientology Movie won't be getting a release in Ireland due to blasphemy laws.

The film has a UK distributor, Altitude and is set to be released over there on October 14th. However as we reported earlier this year, an Irish distributor has yet to be confirmed and it's looking likely that none will be.

The main stumbling block seems to be Ireland's blasphemy laws and in particular the The Defamation Act of 2009. According to that piece of legislation, any "publication or utterance of blasphemous matter" against any religion is an offence and carries a fine of €25,000.

The Act does allow for a defence of work that has "genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value", which this documentary most likely will have. However it looks like there aren't any distributors willing to take a chance on the film for fear that they could be found to be in breach of the legislation.

Alex Gibney's 2015 Scientology documentary, Going Clear had similar problems and did not secure an Irish theatrical release.

We've contacted the UK distributors for confirmation on this story and will update once we have it.

UPDATE:

Graham Spurling, the owner of Movies@Dundrum, Movies@Swords, Movies@Gorey and SGC Dungarvan has confirmed on Twitter that the film will not get an Irish release and has suggested that the blasphemy law may be to blame though he cannot speak for the distributors.

Wibbs

While we have come a long way in this country and in a remarkably short time, the blasphemy law is one example of utterly backward thinking. How it got passed is beyond me TBH and every single person who signed off on it should hang their heads in shame.

Grayson

Is Scientology a recognised religion here?

suicide_circus

Wibbs wrote: »

While we have come a long way in this country and in a remarkably short time, the blasphemy law is one example of utterly backward thinking. How it got passed is beyond me TBH and every single person who signed off on it should hang their heads in shame.

Two steps forward, one step back

mcgovern

This is a load of crap, the blasphemy laws are unenforceable and not the reason it won't be shown.
It won't be released here because there is no demand. The UK distributer involved rarely releases to Ireland.

Wibbs

Wibbs wrote: »

While we have come a long way in this country and in a remarkably short time, the blasphemy law is one example of utterly backward thinking. How it got passed is beyond me TBH and every single person who signed off on it should hang their heads in shame.

It was that or a referendum unfortunately.
Anyway they could easily just sue the ****e out of them without the blasphemy stuff and it'd be the same result.

Grayson

Grayson wrote: »

Is Scientology a recognised religion here?

That's a very good question. If it isn't, then there's nothing to blaspheme against. If it is, then there's still nothing to blaspheme against, because it's a load of sh1te.

maximoose

Hmm. I really doubt there were ever plans for a wide release so why is it in anyway surprising that "Movies@Dundrum, Movies@Swords, Movies@Gorey and SGC Dungarvan" will not be showing it.

Nothing but speculation in there about the blasphemy law blocking it.

Still hoping for some screenings at IFI or Lighthouse.

mcgovern

mcgovern wrote: »

This is a load of crap, the blasphemy laws are unenforceable and not the reason it won't be shown.
It won't be released here because there is no demand. The UK distributer involved rarely releases to Ireland.

The evidence they produce is a tweet from someone asking "our blasphemy laws to blame?"

emo72

Either way, when something is forbidden it gets more desirable. So look at the attention it's getting now. Scientology under the spotlight is always a good thing.

whisky_galore

mcgovern wrote: »

This is a load of crap, the blasphemy laws are unenforceable and not the reason it won't be shown.
It won't be released here because there is no demand. The UK distributer involved rarely releases to Ireland.

Tbf there's no superheroes, explosions or robots in it, so not a major draw for discerning Irish audiences.

emo72

whisky_galore wrote: »

Tbf there's no superheroes, explosions or robots in it, so not a major draw for discerning Irish audiences.

I dunno, it could be a good science fiction story about aliens and invasions. Sadly I'm not joking.

steddyeddy

Maybe the blasphemy laws here wouldn't forbid the showing of this movie here but certainly some people, including the distributors believe they would. Is it not time for clarification on what these laws do and don't allow? Is there even a need for these laws?

Zillah

Wibbs wrote: »

How it got passed is beyond me TBH and every single person who signed off on it should hang their heads in shame.

At the time I remember thinking that the timing of it was extremely suspicious to coincide with something embarrassing that was going on with Fianna Fail. It was put through by some junior minister. I called shenanigans then and I'll call it now!

Deleted User wrote: »

It was that or a referendum unfortunately.

There was absolutely nothing urgent about the matter. The lacuna had existed for decades, I don't see why there was any urgency to fill it.

Samaris

They should show it out of sheer civic duty. Scientology is one of the nastier scams out there at the moment. And the depressing thing is that it is so -obviously-, screamingly, a scam, that it's remarkable that blasphemy laws could even remotely cover it. It's like refusing to show a film about Enron or Amway for fear of slander/libel.

The Backwards Man

"Giddy Pythonesque delight" - Daily Express

Any distributor reading that would automatically assume it's a load of shìte.

ohnonotgmail

emo72 wrote: »

I dunno, it could be a good science fiction story about aliens and invasions. Sadly I'm not joking.

no, its a terrible science fiction story about aliens and invasions written by a hack.

Grayson

Samaris wrote: »

They should show it out of sheer civic duty. Scientology is one of the nastier scams out there at the moment. And the depressing thing is that it is so -obviously-, screamingly, a scam, that it's remarkable that blasphemy laws could even remotely cover it. It's like refusing to show a film about Enron or Amway for fear of slander/libel.

Someone needs to be audited.....

ohnonotgmail

Grayson wrote: »

Someone needs to be audited.....

a million years in sea org would do them the world of good.

steddyeddy

steddyeddy wrote: »

Maybe the blasphemy laws here wouldn't forbid the showing of this movie here but certainly some people, including the distributors believe they would. Is it not time for clarification on what these laws do and don't allow? Is there even a need for these laws?

The major issue with or without the new-ish blasphemy law would be getting sued for defamation. Whether frivolous or not the cost of defending oneself from such legal action would be an awful lot more than the penalty for the blasphemy law.

topper75

Hoping for a little Streisland effect on this myself. ha ha
Can't wait to see it.

Osgoodisgood

emo72 wrote: »

Either way, when something is forbidden it gets more desirable. So look at the attention it's getting now. Scientology Religion of any kind under the spotlight is always a good thing.

fyp

enda1

Wibbs wrote: »

While we have come a long way in this country and in a remarkably short time, the blasphemy law is one example of utterly backward thinking. How it got passed is beyond me TBH and every single person who signed off on it should hang their heads in shame.

It's not the law's fault, it is our constitution's.
Having a retarded constitution which runs to reams of pages describing what it means to be "Irish" is the problem - plus no legislative means to change it.

Stoogie

Samaris wrote: »

They should show it out of sheer civic duty. Scientology is one of the nastier scams out there at the moment. And the depressing thing is that it is so -obviously-, screamingly, a scam, that it's remarkable that blasphemy laws could even remotely cover it. It's like refusing to show a film about Enron or Amway for fear of slander/libel.

It's no more obvious to me than the Zombie Jesus cult .

BattleCorp

I'm assuming that there is some sort of a jail sentence attached to the blasphemy laws because I can't see a €25k fine stopping it being shown.

Imagine how many people would go to see it because it is banned because of blasphemy.

ohnonotgmail

BattleCorp wrote: »

I'm assuming that there is some sort of a jail sentence attached to the blasphemy laws because I can't see a €25k fine stopping it being shown.

Imagine how many people would go to see it because it is banned because of blasphemy.

I think you overestimate how much a cinema would pull in for a film like this. €25K would put a big hole in it if not completely wipe it out.

Samaris

Stoogie wrote: »

It's no more obvious to me than the Zombie Jesus cult .

Noo, seriously, look into it. I have plenty of issues with organised religion, but this isn't even a religion. There isn't actually belief at the top of the organisation in their stories, it's pure money-making scam and with a vicious streak through it.

If religion is the opiate of the masses, cults like this are the cocaine cut with bath salts and rat poison.

Samaris

Admittedly, I am unsure I'd go see it, partly because the cinema is insanely expensive these days (Force Awakens was an expensive enough trip at least, and that's without the hour and a half journey to get to the cinema). But also I'm more dubious of a fact-based showing of Scientology in movie form. I'd honestly be more inclined to watch it as a documentary rather than not know what's embellished and/or made up for the sake of the story and what's the actual mad crap that Scientology high-ups pull. Some of it is so semi-unbelievable that it would be pretty hard to tell!

longshanks

I'd go see it because Louis Theroux is always quality, and Scientology needs to be called out for the pile of cock that it is.
Also didn't Sky show an anti Scientology film that was broadcast here a while back?

endacl

longshanks wrote: »

I'd go see it because Louis Theroux is always quality, and Scientology needs to be called out for the pile of cock that it is.
Also didn't Sky show an anti Scientology film that was broadcast here a while back?

It wasn't anti-Scientology. It simply showed the facts and allowed the discerning viewer to come to their own conclusions.

So...... yeah.... I suppose it was anti-Scientology.

Moo Moo Land

Wibbs wrote: »

While we have come a long way in this country and in a remarkably short time, the blasphemy law is one example of utterly backward thinking. How it got passed is beyond me TBH and every single person who signed off on it should hang their heads in shame.

Absolutely 100% agree.

cdeb

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

I think you overestimate how much a cinema would pull in for a film like this. €25K would put a big hole in it if not completely wipe it out.

It could potentially be E25k per instance as well.

Daft law obviously, but at least the film will be shown in general. Not being shown in Ireland won't put a huge dent in getting the film's message out.

Ush1

Who cares? You'll be able to get it online anyway.

conorhal

This is some self promoting BS. The article states they're looking for a distributor, they have not been denied certification or banned from releasesing the movie. I think the blasphemy law needs to go, but that underhanded, agenda driven, manipulative article (little more than a propagana piece), tells me that they agenda pushers on this are little better then the Scientology crowd with their (poor) attempts at manipulation.

the groutch

Down with this sort of thing

jmayo

Wibbs wrote: »

While we have come a long way in this country and in a remarkably short time, the blasphemy law is one example of utterly backward thinking. How it got passed is beyond me TBH and every single person who signed off on it should hang their heads in shame.

Ahh the good dermot ahern who was more interested in protecting religion than the fact the country was going down the toilet due to his government and it's leader.

FFS he didn't even know the IMF were in town even though they were on their way to government buildings.


BTW does anyone know if this is going to be shown on the Aran Islands for instance ?

This is getting into the realms of life imitating art.

RandomName2

emo72 wrote: »

I dunno, it could be a good science fiction story about aliens and invasions. Sadly I'm not joking.

At least they don't blow you up if you depict Xenu or L Ron Hubbard.

See? Here's a picture of him. No death threats.

http://www.newtimesslo.com/images/cms/full/lrh_1966.jpg

Makes them seem pretty even tempered and sane by comparison to some "real" religions.

milehip

Grayson wrote: »

Is Scientology a recognised religion here?

Shouldn't be recognised anywhere IMHO.

Yamanoto

IFI intimated a screening on Oct. 7th....hopefully.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101086806&postcount=12

failinis

To save all the what aboutery in here, no, it is not a recognised religion in Ireland.

In Ireland, the Church of Scientology has not been successful in its attempts to obtain tax-free, charitable status.[40]

and in the table it was coded as blue which means not a recognised religion either. here

The film distributor releasing this, out of the last 20 movies they've released less than 5 made it into Irish cinemas.

I feel it is far more likely to be down to finical projections than any blasphemy laws.

lertsnim

It's released on DVD and VOD in Australia the week after next so it will be available if not shown in cinemas.

cdeb

failinis wrote: »

To save all the what aboutery in here, no, it is not a recognised religion in Ireland.

If it's not a religion, can it be blasphemed?

Outlaw Pete

The amount of SPs in this thread if off the charts.

Infini

cdeb wrote: »

If it's not a religion, can it be blasphemed?

It reeks of the smell of a massive scam dressed up as a religion playing on peoples ignorance. It's sad that its even considerded a religion in some parts. Thank feck for the internet tho.

ohnonotgmail

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

The amount of SPs in this thread if off the charts.

I would be happy to count myself among them.

oppenheimer1

conorhal wrote: »

This is some self promoting BS. The article states they're looking for a distributor, they have not been denied certification or banned from releasesing the movie. I think the blasphemy law needs to go, but that underhanded, agenda driven, manipulative article (little more than a propagana piece), tells me that they agenda pushers on this are little better then the Scientology crowd with their (poor) attempts at manipulation.

Exactly. This is a film that ordinarily would have limited appeal, likely only to get screened in the IFI or light house. The reason this film doesn't have distribution here is because it wouldn't make any money.

Now, stir a bit of false controversy bull**** on Twitter about blasphemy, and just wait and see - you'll get a "brave" cinema to screen it, and they will rake it in while a bunch of fools go to watch it just to "stick it to the man".

I say this as a fan of Theroux.

Grayson

Just as a matter of interest would Monty Pythons Life of Brian or The Holy Grail be in violation of the blasphemy laws?

Zaph

Grayson wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest would Monty Pythons Life of Brian or The Holy Grail be in violation of the blasphemy laws?

I don't see how The Holy Grail could be considered blasphemous, and obviously Brian was not the Messiah, he was a very naughty boy, so that surely rules out blasphemy there too.

The_Valeyard

Zaph wrote: »

I don't see how The Holy Grail could be considered blasphemous, and obviously Brian was not the Messiah, he was a very naughty boy, so that surely rules out blasphemy there too.

All I said was this halibut is fit for jehovah

cdeb

Grayson wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest would Monty Pythons Life of Brian or The Holy Grail be in violation of the blasphemy laws?

You should Google the interview involving Michael Palin, John Cleese, the Bishop of Southwark and some other fella (Muggeridge - or was he the Bishop?)

The two religious guys had seen the film earlier in the day, though later privately admitted they'd been late and missed the start, which clearly shows that Brian is not Jesus.

Their mindset throughout the interview is the best way of answering that question I think. It seems that people like them had way more sway in Ireland at the time. Just pig-ignorant, self-important mongs.

Panthro

Will it be on Netflix.
Be grand if it's on Netflix