A film screening at a cultural festival in Helsinki caused a stir in advance. The city says a police investigation into the threats is currently underway.
Last weekend, the screening of the documentary Drag Kids was cancelled at the Culture Cabinet Festival in Malmitalo, Helsinki.
The screening of the film caused a lot of discussion on social media, including Twitter and Malmitalo’s Facebook page.
According to Aalto, the fact that the age limit for the documentary was set at 18, as the National Audiovisual Institute had not previously screened the documentary, contributed to the controversy.
Aalto says that according to the law, all films that have not been prescreened will automatically be labeled K18.
– This gave rise to the impression that there might be K-18 material, which is by no means what the documentary is about, Aalto says.
The organisers received several threats to show the film
In addition, the key reason for the cancellation of the documentary’s screening was a security threat.
– The situation became quite serious, says Aalto.
According to Aalto, they received several threats last Friday, for example a bomb threat and serious threats against individuals. He says that a police investigation is currently underway into the threats.
Aalto says that they assessed the security situation with the authorities and ended up canceling the screening of the film. Aalto says that the decision was influenced by the fact that it was an event at the city’s cultural center, where people would be on site in the same space.
Toppinen says that the event itself went well in the end and security measures were increased due to the commotion. According to Toppinen, for example, the police were on duty outside during the evening and Malmitalo had acquired more security guards.
The city wants to highlight unknown phenomena
The Canadian documentary film released in 2019 tells the story of four children aged 8-11 who practice drag and prepare a performance for the Pride Festival in Montreal.
Laura Aalto says that the city should have been better prepared for a possible public discussion regarding the documentary film screening in question.
– We need to be even more sensitive and alert regarding the themes that may arouse even fierce public debate.
He sees that the city’s task as a producer of cultural and leisure services is to open up and make unknown phenomena and cultures understandable to people.
– Our task is to break each other’s bubbles, and to make it understandable how to look at the world, even if it is more foreign to ourselves, sums up Aalto.