Sitges director facing jail for film screening

The decision of a Barcelona court to investigate the director of the Sitges Film Festival, Ángel Sala, for exhibiting child pornography following a screening of the movie A Serbian Film has prompted indignation in the industry. Half a dozen directors of Spanish film festivals have already come out in support of his actions.

The Sitges Film Festival is held each October in the small seaside resort, close to Barcelona. It is the largest sci-fi and horror film festival in the world.

A Serbian Film, directed by Srdjan Spasojevic, has been banned in several countries, including Spain. It includes simulated scenes of a newborn baby being raped and sex with a five-year-old boy.

The charges have been brought by the Barcelona Attorney's Office under Article 189 of the Penal Code, which specifies prison sentences of up to three months, as well as a fine for producing, selling, distributing, exhibiting or facilitating by any means pornographic material regardless of whether they directly involve minors.

The Attorney's Office was responding to a complaint brought by an association that defends young people's interests. It had previously managed to prevent the screening of the film at the San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Festival.

Sala refused to attend a hearing by the Barcelona Provincial Court, saying that he has never seen the film, and knew nothing about the offending scenes. The Attorney General's Office says it has emails from Sala, along with other documentation, that proves he had seen the film. It was shown once at the festival, at a midnight screening.

The film's director describes it as "a metaphor for our daily lives, in which we are exploited by others who manage our destiny from the moment we are born until the day we die." The film concerns a retired porno actor who is paid a vast sum of money to take part in what he is told will be the definitive pornographic film. A censored version of the film has been shown in the UK.

Meanwhile, Fantasporto, a two-week movie festival in Porto, Portgual, that closed on Sunday, awarded A Serbian Film its Special Prize.