Hoyts and Village Cinemas are facing a vilification case in Victoria over their decision to screen the controversial Indian film The Kerala Story, more than three years after objections were first raised over its release in Australian cinemas.
The Alliance Against Islamophobia Australia has taken the cinema chains to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over screenings of the 2023 Hindi-language film, arguing it promotes harmful stereotypes about Muslims and portrays Muslim men as a threat to non-Muslim women. The allegations are contested by the cinema operators and no finding has been made against them.
The case came before VCAT Vice President Judge My Anh Tran on Monday, August 3, in a hearing expected to run for three days, with parts of the proceeding closed to the public. Ron Merkel KC appeared for the alliance, while barrister Marcus Hoyne represented Hoyts and Village Cinemas.
The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, follows women from Kerala who convert to Islam and are recruited to join Islamic State. The film generated intense political and public debate in India and later faced objections to its screenings in Australia. The Australian Classification Review Board describes it as an Indian drama presented in Hindi with English subtitles.
According to a report of the VCAT hearing, Merkel argued that the film promoted a narrative in which Muslim men woo non-Muslim women, marry them and force them towards religious extremism and terrorism.
“The film sends a message that Muslims are a threat,” Merkel told the tribunal, according to the report.
The case puts two questions before the tribunal: whether the screening of The Kerala Story amounted to unlawful vilification under the law applying at the time, and how far responsibility for the content of a legally classified film can extend to the cinemas that agree to show it
The alliance is also contesting whether the cinemas can rely on legal protections applying to artistic works. Merkel argued that the film’s alleged propaganda character meant the artistic-work exemption should not be available. Judge Tran told the hearing she felt uncomfortable about having to determine whether something qualified as an artistic work.
The alleged conduct dates from 2023, when Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act governed religious vilification. That law included exceptions for certain public conduct undertaken reasonably and in good faith, including artistic works. Victoria introduced new anti-vilification provisions from April 15 this year, but the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission says conduct occurring before that date can still be dealt with under the previous law.
Hoyts and Village Cinemas reject the alliance’s case and argue cinema operators should not be required to make their own assessment of the political or religious merits of every film they screen.
Hoyne told VCAT the chains show hundreds of films and do not have the capacity to watch each one beforehand. Hoyts had sought information about the film from its Australian distributor, Forum Films, and was told it was a movie about terrorists, according to the hearing report.
Hoyne argued that cinemas were exhibitors rather than arbiters of film content, telling the tribunal: “They show the movies and that’s it.”
Australia’s classification process has become a central part of that defence.
The Kerala Story was classified MA15+ by the Australian Classification Board in May 2023, initially with the consumer advice “Strong themes, violence and sexual violence”. The Alliance Against Islamophobia subsequently sought a formal review. Official Classification Board material gives May 8 and May 9 on separate pages for the original decision, but both confirm the classification occurred in May 2023.
A three-member Classification Review Board panel reconsidered the film on October 18, 2023, after receiving written and oral submissions from the alliance and submissions from other interested parties. The panel also viewed the film itself. It unanimously retained the MA15+ classification but changed the consumer advice to “Strong scenes of sexual violence, violence and themes of religious intolerance”.
The Review Board described the film as a fictional drama and found that its treatment of cultural, religious, racial and gender discrimination included portrayals that some viewers might perceive as negative or dehumanising. It also acknowledged concerns raised by the alliance that the film could incite hatred and intolerance towards Muslims.
However, the board said it was required to make its decision within Australia’s classification framework. It concluded that the themes and violence did not exceed the strong-impact threshold permitted for MA15+ and retained the film’s classification.
The film had already attracted an unusually large share of complaints to Australia’s classification authority. The Classification Board’s 2022-23 annual report records 83 complaints about the classification of films, with 22 relating to the theatrical release of The Kerala Story. The next most complained-about film, Babylon, attracted seven.
Objections to the Australian screenings began soon after the film’s release. In May 2023, the Alliance Against Islamophobia publicly called on the Classification Board and Australian cinemas to reconsider its classification and screening.
The controversy also reached Melbourne’s west. Village Cinemas cancelled screenings at its Werribee cinema following a protest, according to evidence reported from the VCAT hearing. Both Village and Hoyts had received complaints from members of the Muslim community after screenings began.
Hoyne has relied on the Classification Board’s decision in arguing that the cinemas were entitled to exhibit the film. He told VCAT that Australia’s classification authorities had the power to refuse classification, which would have prevented the film being legally shown, but had chosen not to do so.
AAI describes its VCAT action as a test of whether a film approved by the Australian Classification Board can still give rise to liability under religious vilification law. The organisation says it wants to establish whether cinemas and distributors can be held responsible for exhibiting films it argues promote anti-Muslim rhetoric or incite hatred, contempt or ridicule.
The case therefore puts two questions before the tribunal: whether the screening of The Kerala Story amounted to unlawful vilification under the law applying at the time, and how far responsibility for the content of a legally classified film can extend to the cinemas that agree to show it.
No VCAT decision in the case had been published as of August 9.
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