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Turn Me On, Dammit! gets Tuscaloosa go-ahead

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Turn Me On, Dammit! gets Tuscaloosa go-ahead
Photo: New Yorker Films

The Tuscaloosa Arts Council has backtracked on its decision not to show a Norwegian film about teenagers’ sexuality after members of the public expressed an interest in seeing the movie despite the misgivings of a local pastor.

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The Arts Council last week said it had decided not to show the acclaimed film, Turn Me On, Dammit!, as part of the Bama Art House summer series following complaints from a Methodist pastor and queries from the mayor.

The pastor, John Kearns, registered his opposition amid concerns that a film detailing the sexual awakening of a 15-year-old girl in a small Norwegian town was "not in step with community standards".

But the Arts Council on Friday reversed its decision after city officials reassured the group that its public funding would not be jeopardized, AL.com reported.

”The Arts Council came to this decision after receiving feedback from community members in support of the film as well as consulting with the City of Tuscaloosa," the Arts Council said in a statement.

"The city emphasized that future funding for the organization is not linked with programming decisions. Public funds will not be directed toward the screening of the film, but will be presented entirely with sponsor dollars."

The film’s director, Jannicke Systad Jacobsen, last week said she had never intended to offend anyone with her film, which she said anyone who watched it would see contained a Christian conservative message about waiting before having sex.

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