Coming to DVD next Tuesday, April 17 and already available on VOD on iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu: CLEANFLIX
Directors Andrew James and Joshua Ligairi’s “sanitized” film exposé premiered at Toronto in 2009. Its festival circuit included Big Sky, Goteborg, Cinequest, Florida, Traverse City, and Nashville.
Recognizing a potentially lucrative niche market in conservative, and often religious, family households, Utah DVD retailers began excising objectionable content from R-rated films and advertising their product as “clean” versions appropriate for the largely Latter Day Saint audience which otherwise would have to pass on many titles. As the practice grew in popularity, it also attracted the attention of several Hollywood directors who didn’t appreciate what they viewed as censorship, leading to litigation. James and Ligairi relate the battle waged between artistic intent and the marketing of morality, following “film sanitizers” as they make a case for the rights of DVD retailers to do what they will with copies of films that they legitimately bought, and for film consumers to be able to enjoy more family-friendly versions of popular films, similar to those shown by airlines and on TV. The filmmakers effectively offer direct comparisons of original and “clean” versions of the same films, noting the curious focus on sex and language, but often not violence, and the ethical loopholes that the retailers attempt to use to stay in business. While James and Ligairi may at times take too-easy shots at some characters, using an over-the-top approach where subtlety may have been more effective in underscoring moral shortcomings, the film as a whole offers a series of provocative questions about the limits of art, culture, commerce, and ownership – if it doesn’t answer them all, that’s because the issues are still being debated.
what (not) to doc 