NEWS FLASH: Ann Arbor Film Festival Wins First Amendment Lawsuit!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007, the AAFF announced an important victory for artist rights and protection of the First Amendment with a successful settlement in their federal lawsuit against the State of Michigan. Unconstitutional state arts funding restrictions, which the AAFF challenged with a lawsuit, are being repealed and replaced with guidelines mirroring those of the National Endowment for the Arts, which have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"This decision isn't only a victory for artistic freedom of expression, but a reminder to stand up and ensure that our government is held accountable for the power they wield,” said Christen McArdle, AAFF Executive Director. “We are pleased that arbitrary guidelines will no longer be used to deny artists their creative rights.”

One of the AAFF’s prominent supporters, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, shared his thoughts about the lawsuit, “I am thrilled by this decision--it protects us all, even those who might be inclined to limit this great Festival's free expression."

CHESTS

Ann Arbor Film Festival
“Chests” by Dolores Wilber, that was screened the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 2005, is among a few other films that have been cited as “pornographic” by certain right-wing groups and legislators in the state of Michigan. “Chests” is a short film that presents two bare-chested men, from the waist up, bashing their chests together over and over. That’s it. It is about conflict and war and repetition, endless bashing into one another. It is disturbing and funny.
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Film fest facing financial crisis
The Ann Arbor News (6/23/2006)
Controversy over state funding for the Ann Arbor Film Festival has led to a financial crunch for the event and a public fundraising campaign to stabilize it. Without the expectation of future grant money - and without the final installment of the past year's $13,650 grant, which has so far been withheld - the festival has found itself in dire financial straits.
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Drolet: Stop spending taxpayer dollars on pornography
Michigan GOP Press Release (3/16/2006)
State Rep. Leon Drolet today called on the Michigan Legislature to strip some $630,000 in supplemental funding for the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs. In 2005, the council helped fund “Chests,” a two and a half minute film that showed two men repeatedly bumping their bare chests together. They also funded “What is it?,” a film that features a naked man with cerebral palsy laying on a giant seashell being fondled by a naked woman in a monkey mask. This is accompanied by Nazi imagery and the director sitting in a throne with a full length fur coat on.
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