Inxeba star speaks out on the controversial movie

Inxeba - The Wound actor Nakhane Touré says he was hurt over the reclassification of the film as porn.

Inxeba - The Wound actor Nakhane Touré says he was hurt over the reclassification of the film as porn.

Published Feb 15, 2018

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Johannesburg - Controversial movie Inxeba - The Wound actor Nakhane Touré has spoken out following the reclassification of the film as porn.

"We are vile. We are perverse. A virus that they will do anything to get rid of. I sat in my apartment reading the verdict, close to tears, shaking," he wrote in a statement published on his Twitter account..

"I saw myself as a child, mocked for being effeminate. Afraid for my life as a teenager as I walked past straight men as I had no idea what they were capable of. I always had something to hide. They hated me," Touré said.

Touré said he was allowed to be emotional. 

"This is my life. These are our lives. And I fucking refuse to live in shame for your patriarchy to keep living. I'm an umXhosa and I don't know what to do with what I love, but doesn't love me," Touré said.

The Film and Publication's (FPB) Appeal Tribunal on Wednesday announced that Inxeba has been reclassified from 16 LS to X18, a rating that has seen it being taken off cinemas.

The FPB said the movie which was screened at an Indaba on Wednesday had classifiable elements of sex, language, nudity, violence and prejudice.

“A rating of X18 means that the material can only be distributed from designated adult premises. This means the film cannot be screened in cinemas or any other platform that is not a designated adult premise as defined by the Film and Publications Act no 96 of 1996 as amended,” FPB spokesperson Manala Botolo said.

Producer Cait Pansegrouw said they were disappointed by the decision.

“We are obviously disappointed in the outcome, given how the FBP has classified an important work of art that explores themes around masculinity, love and identity as an X-rated film,” said Pansegrouw in a statement.

Touré's reaction came after the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities held an Indaba to discuss concerns from communities about the movie. The producers did not participate in the discussion due to "safety concerns".

The film was released earlier this month despite objections and complaints laid against it. In a turn of events, the producers accused the commission of not giving them relevant information pertaining to the Indaba. The commission's chairperson Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said a representative of the producers arrived at Birchwood Hotel in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, earlier on Wednesday but could not stay over safety concerns.

"We tried very hard to get the producers here. We even performed rituals. A representative was here in the morning but decided to leave. The representative said they did not feel safe. We even offered a bodyguard but they could not be here," Mkhwanazi-Xaluva told delegates.

Speaking on behalf of the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, Prince Thulani Zulu said the nation had been wounded by the movie.

That is because Inxeba implies that late Zulu King Shaka Zulu had sex with warriors. Though the sexual scenes are not too explicit, the kingdoms said they were a disgrace. There is also nudity in the movie.The movie also implies that Jesus was a homosexual and that he slept with his disciples.

Speaking on behalf of the religious community, Pastor Keitumetse Mahlangu said the producers should apologise to South Africans.

The Pan South African Language Board also said the language used in the movie was exaggerated. The translations on some of the things said in isiXhosa are wrong. When one of the actors says: "wabambi kangaka", the translation is "you look like shit".

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