theFeed is the correct version of my film. I would like to thank Amazon Prime for being supportive and I would caution any film maker of working with the aforementioned ‘distributor.’ Thank you EVERYONE for all your support.” According to IndieWire, a film industry and review website, sources close to Amazon Prime say that Goldwyn Films uploaded the movie through its Prime Video Direct service. But films uploaded through Prime Video Direct that contain depictions of pornography, nudity, or explicit depictions of sexual acts are labeled as featuring “sexually explicit content,” preventing the title from appearing on certain carousels on the Prime Video website. To avoid that, the sources allege, Goldwyn Films removed the controversial scenes, which allowed the film to bypass an explicit rating and increase the film’s visibility to Amazon Prime users. The censored cut has since been removed from the streaming service, but the original theatrical version is still available for rent or purchase. Neither Amazon Prime Video or Samuel Goldwyn Films responded to requests for comment.
TODD FRANSON
Prime. It is not the film I intended or made. I will report back.” Lee followed up with a tweet asking viewers in the U.S. if they had any evidence of Amazon Prime censoring naked women, or sex scenes within heterosexual stories on their streaming service, or whether it was just queer films that have been censored. Some Twitter users pointed out that the version of the movie that streams for free for Amazon Prime members was censored, but the version available for purchase was unedited. A representative for Amazon Prime later pushed back against Lee’s claim, telling the New York Daily News that Amazon Prime was not involved in censoring the movie, and that the edited version had been uploaded by the film’s distributor, Samuel Goldwyn Films. Faced with this information, Lee reversed course and issued a follow-up tweet, writing, “After investigation [God’s Own Country] was not censored by @PrimeVideo (Amazon USA) but by the US distributor @GoldwynFilms who butchered the streaming version without consultation to get more ‘revenue.’ “The rental version of God’s Own Country on @PrimeVideo
Hickson
Community Support Even a pandemic won’t stop Us Helping Us from servicing the community. By John Riley
U
S HELPING US [HAS] REMAINED OPEN SINCE THE beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says DeMarc Hickson, executive director of Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc., a community organization dedicated to promoting holistic health among black LGBTQ people, particularly those living with HIV. Us Helping Us has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by moving some services and programs online, while still maintaining in-person appointments where necessary. For instance, clients in need of HIV and STD screenings, which are usually provided in-person, will instead meet virtually with a nurse practitioner to assess their symptoms and whether they need to pursue a follow-up in person. The organization’s support groups, which cater to specific segments of the LGBTQ community, have also moved their meetings online, connecting through Zoom or other video chat
platforms — though that has proven to be logistically difficult for some clients. “We have been seeing some barriers with our transgender support group,” notes Hickson. “Those barriers include one having access to a phone that will allow for the downloading of the Zoom app, or a data plan that allows for it. One of the concerns that has been expressed has been prioritizing the use of data or the minutes. So we’ve tried Facebook Live, but then others don’t have Facebook Live. So there have been a number of barriers that we’ve been working to address.” More recently, Us Helping Us took its intervention programs online as well. The programs seek to educate and inform specific populations about behavioral and biomedical interventions to promote healthy living, HIV prevention, and HIV treatment. That includes RAW, or Raising Awareness Within, a program designed to educate opinion leaders in the black LGBTQ comMAY 28, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM
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