Donald Woods

The international distributor of the anti-apartheid film "Cry Freedom" said Tuesday that it is postponing the movie's South African premiere, originally set for April 8, until the minister of justice gives his approval. "Our lawyers said we would be open to prosecution under the Internal Security Act if we exhibited the film without the prior consent of the minister of justice," said Peter Dignan, managing director of United International Pictures, the distributor in South Africa.

It's sad but only slightly surprising that Richard Attenborough's "Cry Freedom" is struggling to find audiences. It is serious, worthy, instructive, relevant, urgent and compassionate. The trouble is that not one of those is a bankable word. Steamy is a bankable word; erotic has marquee value; shocking will draw a certain crowd; rollicking and hilarious will at a minimum bring the ad-scanner to a thoughtful pause.

Police today ordered "Cry Freedom," a film about black activist Steven Biko, seized from theaters across the country hours after the government gave permission for it to be shown. Police Commissioner Hendrik de Witt issued the order in the evening under state-of-emergency regulations. The order came five hours after the Publication Appeals Board, the government's censorship body, announced that the film could be shown.

The South African minister of home affairs ordered government censors Monday to reconsider their approval of "Cry Freedom," Richard Attenborough's film about black activist Steve Biko, which was set to open Friday in 36 theaters nationwide. Stoffel Botha's tersely worded directive, published in the Government Gazette in Pretoria, came as United International Pictures (UIP), which is distributing the film in South Africa, was preparing to go ahead with the once-delayed premiere.

A militant black anti-apartheid group demanded Wednesday that film director Richard Attenborough allow it to censor his forthcoming film, "Cry Freedom," which tells the story of Steve Biko, the founder of South Africa's black consciousness movement who was killed while in police custody. The Azanian People's Organization, which considers itself the only true heir of Biko's political legacy, threatened to launch an international campaign against the film if Attenborough refuses.