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Quebec director Xavier Dolan is at the centre of a storm of controversy over a music video he directed for French group Indochine.

The black-and-white video for College Boy shows a teen being attacked, at first with paper missiles, but later with punches and kicks, while other students stand by with blindfolds over their eyes as the harassment continues.

It concludes with a crucifixion scene in which the boy is hoisted on a cross and shot. When the police arrive, they too start shooting at the teenager on the cross, while his attackers feign innocence.

French telecom watchdog, the Conseil suprieur de l'audiovisuel, is considering whether the video is too violent, with one board member saying she is very concerned about the content. It may consider limiting viewing of the video to after 10 p.m. and placing restrictions on whether the video can be viewed by people under age 16.

So far, no French stations have aired the video, fearing there might be backlash.

YouTube has put a warning on the video and in some markets, does not show the entire violent sequence, instead switching to shots of the band playing.

Dolan told CBC News he finds the plan for censorship ridiculous, when young people see regular images of violence on TV screens and hip-hop videos with negative portrayals of women.

"Im not surprised there is a reaction, Im surprised were talking about censorship because I think there is a crucial age and that is 11, 10, 13, 14, 15 the teenage years, when things still have a strong impression on you," he said.

"This is the age you need to be educated on violence and the true consequences."

The 24-year-old Quebec filmmaker has drawn attention with films such as Jai Tu Ma Mre (I Killed My Mother) and Laurence Anyways. The video sends an anti-bullying message and he says he wanted to illustrate how those who watch schoolyard attacks are complicit in bullying.

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Xavier Dolan objects to plan for censorship of his video

Washington, May 3:

Chinese President Xi Jinping today figured in a US press censorship list, which also included an al-Qaeda linked Syrian terror group, Muslim Brotherhood supporters and Pakistans Baloch armed groups.

Myanmar President Thein Sein marked an exit from the list of Predators of Freedom of Information for the year 2013 for his countrys efforts towards press freedom in recent times.

The list was released today by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day.

The updated list of 39 predators of freedom of information includes state heads, politicians, religious leaders, militias and criminal organisations involved in censoring, imprison, kidnap, torture and killing journalists and other news providers.

These predators of freedom of information are responsible for the worst abuses against the news media and journalists, RWB Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said.

They are becoming more and more effective. In 2012, the level of violence against news providers was unprecedented and a record number of journalists were killed, Deloire added.

The five new predators that have been added to the list include new Chinese President Xi, Syrian Jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra members and supporters of Egypts Muslim Brotherhood, Pakistans Baloch armed groups and Maldives religious extremists.

Four predators who have marked an exit are former Somali information and communications minister Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed, Burmese President Thein Sein, the ETA group and the Hamas and Palestinian Authority security forces.

It is no surprise that Xi Jinping his predecessor Hu Jintaos place as predator. The change of person has not in any way affected the repressive system developed by Chinas Communist Party, RWB said in a statement.

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Chinese premier figures in US press censorship list; Thein Sein marks exit

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Ankush Arora, May 2, 2013:

Getting directors, producers and activists into a room to figure out Indian cinemas connection to violence toward women, rape and crudeness in society can be like a family gathering. People shout, get angry and fail to solve fundamental problems because they cant agree on anything.

The Siri Fort auditorium in New Delhi recently presented the latest forum for the debate. Indias Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held a six-day festival there to celebrate 100 years of moviemaking, and there was little agreement on how much responsibility Bollywood and the film industry bear for the poor attitude toward women that many people evince. It was perhaps a more pressing discussion than usual, given the name of the three-day workshop, Cut-Uncut, which dealt with official censorship in India, the role of sex and violence in movies and the influence of films on society.

To be fair, its a question with no apparent answers. Indian films are wildly popular. Storylines and songs become part of the thread of everyday life in a way thats different than nearly everywhere else in the world. They also reflect a strange prudishness when it comes to love scenes with dance numbers as a substitute strange because the dance numbers can seem infinitely more erotic than any kiss on the lips or lovemaking scene that theyre supposed to be representing.

Then there is the premise, debated for years in the United States by the music and movie worlds, that these images and the attitudes behind them in cinema reinforce a mindset toward women that brought us horrific stories in the past several months such as the Delhi gang rape and the rape of a Swiss tourist in Madhya Pradesh. Verdict? No answer.

You want to tell me that rapes are happening in the society because of item numbers? Are you kidding me? said Luv Ranjan, the director of Pyaar ka Punchnama (2011), speaking on day two of the workshop. Helen was doing item numbers 40 years back. No one was talking about it then.

Men sit beside posters of Indian films in Mumbai in this picture taken March 21, 2006. REUTERS/Adeel Halim/Files Ranjans comment highlighted one of the common themes: you cannot connect item numbers featuring lightly clad women dancing provocatively and singing saucy lyrics to an impulse to rape or to take sexual advantage of women perceived as loose. To censor art as a result is to destroy artistic freedom and vision.

Another argument: women do not need to be treated as property or hidden away lest men lose their control to their lustful passions.

Stop your men. Dont just cover your women. Theres a bigger problem with the mentality of the men in this country, said Ekta Kapoor, who co-produced The Dirty Picture (2011), speaking on day two. The controversial National Award winning film about the late, legendary softcore pornography actress Silk Smitha, took 59 cuts before the censor board allowed it to show on Indian television.

K. Hariharan, a National Award winning director, said on the first day of the workshop that cinema is not a source of decadence. Cinema informs. It doesnt tell you to do this or that. Are we teaching you how to be criminals? Come on! Nobody watches movies for a manual on how to do things.

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No consensus on sex, violence and censorship in Bollywood