Festival sorry over 'pornographic' film

Organisers of the Bath Fringe Festival have apologised after a DVD showing a man masturbating was played. The graphic DVD formed part of an exhibition called Fab 1, located in The Officers Club in Stall Street, and contained no warnings about the material included. People were encouraged to press play, and were faced with a 15 foot wide image of a man masturbating before ejaculating. Ian Dore who viewed it with his 17-year-old niece described it as ‘pornographic’ and called the police.

The DVD has since been removed, and organisers of the festival have apologised for any offence caused. Mr Dore said he was shocked that it was allowed to be shown. He said: “My niece was appalled and clearly upset, I can't speak for the others in the gallery as they had walked out. There was no dampening down of the imagery or soft focus, it was full on, in your face filth. There is no place for this in a public gallery. I simply cannot believe that the organisers of the Bath Fringe and the management of this piece deem this acceptable.”



Director Arran Hodgeson said they were unaware of the content as they hadn't checked the DVD before showing it, and it has now been withdrawn. He said: “We were not aware of what was on the DVD. We deal with around 15 to 20 curators, and we ask them to flag up any offensive material so we can view it and make a decision whether to show it. Unfortunately in this situation we were not made aware. We do not seek to shock or offend people, and we regret any offence caused by this film.”

Mr Hodgeson said that steps had been taken to ensure this would not happen again. A spokesperson from Avon and Somerset Police said: “Officers went to the art gallery after we received a complaint from a man about a DVD, an exhibit at the show. We concluded that there was no offence being committed, and spoke to the gallery curator about the possibility of installing signs and perhaps a barrier so that members of the public would know about the DVD content before they viewed it. We understand that the DVD exhibit was removed.”