Movie: Censorship and Piracy

It's been a week since Sex and the City: The Movie premiered worldwide. Worldwide, except Brunei, that is. When the news of the movie being made came out many years ago, I could only wish that it would be played in Brunei, though I knew that it would be impossible. True enough, SATC: The Movie became one of the casualties of Brunei's strict censorship laws. Any movies with strong sexual and non-Islamic religious contents cannot be screened in Brunei, so the Da Vinci Code, Constantine, the Passion of the Christ, Basic Instinct and Brokeback Mountain are among the movies that never made it to Brunei's silver screens. Having said that, there is no known movie rating system in Brunei. One of my friend's father used to sit in the Censorship Board. The Board would view the movie and then they would give it thumbs up or down. Click here for a copy of Chapter 69 (no kidding!) of Laws of Brunei: Censorship of Films and Public Entertainments Act.

Funnily enough, these movies can be obtained in DVD/VCD formats as they are sold openly in Brunei. Mind you, majority of DVD/VCDs are pirated copies and they are imported in Brunei. And them being pirated, they are not subjected to the Censorship Board treatment. Thus, one may find just about any movie sold. Not just the older movies, but the newer ones too. However, the newer ones are normally the movie, as shown at the cinema, shot with a video camera. Sometimes you might see people in the cinema and hear people laughing and chatting away, with occasional rings of the mobile phones. If I really want to watch a movie that is not shown in Brunei or one that I've missed at the cinema, I normally avoid these video camera-shot copies. Better copies with clear picture and sound normally come out 2-3 months after their general release. There are also copies meant for reviewers or promotion, but these copies would have warnings across the screen every 10 minutes or so.

Speaking of pirated movies, there was this recent news that 100% of movies sold in Brunei are pirated! However, it's not just movies, but computer software too. Just go to this shop in Gadong; it is a pirate's heaven! Pirated copies of movies, tv series, box sets, music and computer software are sold openly here. Well, in most CD/DVD shops actually. There was this time when Brunei was pressured by international laws to clean up on piracy in Brunei and that time most CD/DVD shops were empty as all the pirated CDs, DVDs and VCDs were removed from the shelves. When the supposedly cleaning up campaign was over, the pirated CDs, DVDs and VCDs mysteriously appeared!

Back to the Censorship Board. Apparently if an artist were to perform publicly in Brunei, the artist would be required to provide to the Censorship Board the script, the songs, the sample of the artist's and accompanying dancers' clothings and anything related to the performance. The Board has the right to change or alter the performance, if it was deemed to be unsuitable to be performed.

I know there were many people who went away during the last long weekend just to watch Sex and The City: the Movie. Lucky people!