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SLO film festival targeted amid outage over ‘racist’ movie

May 14, 2019

Jeremy Saville

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Outrage over a movie in which a white man pretends to be a black female radio host drew allegations of racism and a response from the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, which social media users accused of endorsing the flick. [Cal Coast Times]

Loqueesha, a film directed by and starring actor Jeremy Saville, is set to debut in some theaters in July. A trailer for the film displays the words “official selection San Luis Obispo international film festival 2019” between laurels.

The trailer has prompted numerous angry comments over alleged racism, some of which were directed at the SLO film festival. Yet, the film festival actually rejected the Saville movie as an official selection, the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival said in a statement released Monday.

Saville submitted the featured length comedy Loqueesha to the film festival in the George Sidney Independent Film competition category. Upon being rejected, Saville then informed the film festival he was a resident of Monterey County and asked that the film be reconsidered for the Central Coast category, the film festival’s statement says.

Following more deliberations, reviews by a number of the film festival’s screeners and consultation with the festival director, the festival decided to screen the movie in the Central Coast category. Loqueesha was then included in the film festival’s guide.

After the guide was printed, the film was pulled from the festival. Loqueesha did not screen at the SLO film festival.

Nevertheless, the film’s publicist included “official selection” laurels in the Loqueesha trailer. The film festival’s legal representative immediately responded by requesting the trailer be pulled and the laurels be removed, the festival said.

“It is important to note, that while the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival does not shy away from the programming of challenging or provocative films or films dealing with uncomfortable or racy subjects, the festival also recognizes that those films require substantial additional scrutiny prior to including them in the festival’s programming,” the festival said in its statement. “Unfortunately, even though this film did not end up screening at the festival, the truth is that the film did not receive an adequate vetting process and for that, the festival apologizes and commits to installing appropriate measures to see that this unfortunate circumstance does not occur in the future.”


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This is an assumption; but I have a feeling not a single person whom commented is of color, including me. At least I represent minorities in a sensitive and dangerous place to live like America. You don’t have to look far to see how minorities are treated, peer review journals included.


-2

Most people are in denial of and often refuse to confront their own racist tendencies, thoughts, and ideas. They bypass it. Don’t even question it. So normalized, the only response is deflection. Who cares about politics? Who mentions it? Political correctness? People who deflect from addressing the real point. That’s who.


-1

It is racism of the normalized type. I can only assume this movie will be enjoyed by a predominantly white audience.


-7

It’s the liberal thought police that are constantly traveling social media to find anything to say racism especially toward conservatives and white people but if it’s the other way around, there’s a double standard when it comes to Democrats, Jussie Smollett a good example. Remember the democrat governor of Indiana notice that we’re not talking about anymore being in a blackface costume. Look at all the other things blackface, everything being said and then he see the Clintons dressed in blackface for Halloween 20 years ago, not a thing said about it today unless you are a conservative, you’ll be fired. Very sad that society has changed on things that we use to talk about and now we call it racism today.


1

What on earth does this have to do with Clinton or politics; liberal or conservative or any? I’d rather have PC and peace vs unregulated hate. I also support first amendment and auditing our public servants and my other rights, within rational, academic, spiritual and empathetic guidance.


-1

Political correctness run amok.


0

But the movie “Sorry to Bother You” is o.k.? A black guy pretending to be white to succeed as telemarketer is different than a white guy pretending to be a black female radio host? I guess you can take them as comedy films or racism films. I take them as a sick day rental.


20

Too many thin skinned people who having nothing to do but bitch. Get a job and get a life.


28

Aren’t you doing that as we speak on a public forum in opposition to what you read, or am I just that dense? No ideas to mitigate this, just your opinion; which seems distressed and maybe “thinned skinned”?


-3

Who cares? If a film offends you, life’s going to be difficult. Move on and toughen up.


37

OK, so black men can dress up and act white, but not visa versa?


20

Woah, did America found itself off slaves; their work and art, and then mock and suppress them in the entertainment industry?


-3