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The Republic reports this a.m. that Suzanne Johnson has resigned from the board of the organization she founded after the fest removed a film called Sex and Violence from the lineup.

In fairness, the censorship involved was circumstantial rather than deliberate.

The fest was showing films in a local high school; that got it hung up on its lease for the space, which stated it wouldn’t be showing things inappropriate for a school environment.

That’s obviously not the ideal agreement to have for a film festival directed at adults.

Johnson herself acknowledged the spot the board was in:

She said the festival has gone on record as not censoring material, and that the omission compromised the festival.

She had been one of the festival’s chairs and oversaw the films being shown. She also was vice president of the board of directors.

“I don’t believe there’s room for censorship in society, and the fact that I had to censor this film … I just couldn’t be on a board that says it doesn’t censor,” Johnson said.

The real culprit?

An anonymous Arizona goon:

Johnson said the film was singled out by a member of the community who was upset that it was going to be in the lineup. She asked school officials to screen the movie, and they decided it was not appropriate to be shown on campus.

The fest runs through this weekend. Its web site is here.

A full schedule is here.

Info on the film Sex and Violence, directed by a Scottsdale native named Charles Petersen, is here.