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The Film Censorship Board on Wednesday said that it has not received any request from the Indonesian Council of Ulemas to halt the screening of “Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan” (“The Menstruating Puncak Ghost”), a new horror film opening in theaters today.

“There’s always these [rumors of film bans] and more than likely this latest rumor is some kind of promotional gimmick for the film,” Board member Firman Bintang told the Jakarta Globe. He said the media should not be taken in by such gimmicks.

However, the council, or MUI, has said that they are very concerned about the content of the film, and have prohibited Muslims from watching it, an edict few would be expected to follow, judging from past MUI bans that have been widely ignored.

It is not the reference to menstruation that is troubling the clerics. Instead, they have condemned the film for being pornographic and violent.

“The movie contains porn, which can trigger lust and, based on our research, it also contains violence,” Amirsyah Tambunan from the MUI told Kompas.com.

He said that the MUI had called on the film board, or LSF, not to give the movie the green light.

“We urge the LSF to use its power to stop the movie from being screened because it could damage the nation’s morals. At the moment, we’re not sure if the movie has passed censorship or not, but it’s violating social norms. It’s okay to have freedom of expression but without violating the norms [of decency],” Amirsyah said.

Firman said that if the MUI objected to the movie, it could always send a letter backed up with proof of the alleged pornographic content.

“We would respond to such a request and look into the matter,” Firman said, adding that the board would have no problem withdrawing the film if it was found to have violated regulations concerning pornography.

Meanwhile, K2K, the production house behind the movie, said that they had been informed about the MUI’s statement.

“We have received a notice from MUI requesting the movie not be screened. The movie will open soon but now we’ll have to wait for confirmation about the screening status of the movie,” said KK Deeraj from K2K.

However, Deeraj said they would not give in without a fight because the movie had already been passed by the censors. “I will discuss this issue with LSF. If it is banned, we’ll be sad and confused because we’ve spent a lot of money making it,” he said.

Firman confirmed that the movie has passed the board’s censorship, although a considerable number of scenes have been cut. “To be frank, from a cinematographic point of view, it’s not a very good movie and given it has been cut in several places, it wouldn’t surprise me if the producer was trying to attract some publicity,” Firman said.

“Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan” stars actress Andi Soraya and dangdut singing group Trio Macan.

The movie’s trailer, available on YouTube, shows the steamy content, including a topless scene by Andi.

Nudity is rare in Indonesian films.



JG