A Japanese horror film entitled Grotesque has been refused an 18 certificate by the British Board of Film Classification. BBFC director David Cooke said that he and other colleagues had made the decision as “the chief pleasure of the film seemed to be the spectacle of sadism for its own sake.” The last film that the BBFC turned down for an 18 certificate was 2004’s Murder Set Pieces. Read more here
In the northern town of Varallo Sesia in Italy, women wearing the “burkini”, a garment made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings, face a fine of €500 if they are spotted at swimming pools or rivers. The mayor of the northern Piedmont town said: “The sight of a ‘masked woman’ could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene.” Read more here
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Borders are among stores stocking versions of the Lesbian Vampire Killers film with stickers obscuring the word “lesbian” and a photo of cleavage that appears on the sleeve. The sticker in certain stores states “Warning: contains explicitly fit bloodsucking hotties!” seemingly in conflict with the supermarkets’ claim to be protecting a “family environment” by covering the sleeve. Read more here
Authorities in the western Indian state of Gujarat state have banned a controversial book on Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah. The book has been written by Jaswant Singh, who was expelled as leader of the Hindu nationalist main opposition party BJP over the book. The BJP government in Gujarat said it banned the book for its “defamatory references” to Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first home minister who is a political icon in his home state. Jaswant Singh said “the day we start banning books, we are banning thinking.” Read more here