On 7th February 2018, Mike was getting the final touches ready for the premiere of Voices of the Silenced, the documentary he’d spent over 2 years to produce.
Until he got an email. Vue Cinemas, the cinema chain which was due to host the private premiere the follow evening, was cancelling the booking.
Experts had flown from overseas to attend, and the premiere was now without a venue.
Christian Concern helped raise awareness of what had happened, organised a display outside the cinema and helped Mike find an alternative venue.
Through the Christian Legal Centre, Christian Concern also helped Mike make a legal claim for the wasted expenses he had incurred because of the last-minute cancellation.
Vue has decided not to challenge Mike's claim and has paid him in full.
Cancelled due to LGBT pressure?
The feature-length documentary powerfully tells the stories of a number of people who’d been helped to move away from unwanted same-sex attraction and behaviour.
In the week leading up to the premiere, LGBT website PinkNews put pressure on the venue not to show the film. It appeared to many that Vue decided to cancel the booking in response to this pressure.
The cancellation email from Vue claimed that the film would cause offence and "may be unlawful":
“It has recently come to our attention that the film which was due to be screened does not accord with Vue’s fundamental values and beliefs, would cause serious and widespread offence and may be unlawful.”
Vue cited a clause in the contract that says Vue has “the right to refrain from providing screening services up to the point of any pre-booked screening”, and that they “will not be able to fulfil the final terms of the agreement.”
Christian Concern helped spread the word about what had happened. We helped find an alternate venue. We held a rally asking Vue to show the film. And through the Christian Legal Centre, we then went on to help Mike claim compensation for his wasted expenses.
Despite initially claiming that the film "may be unlawful", Vue has now admitted breach of contract and made payment to Mike
Watch the film they tried to silence
The film they tried to block, Voices of the Silenced, explores the stories of many people who've sought help to move away from same-sex attraction and behaviours - along with many experts in the fields of law, medicine and therapy.
Watch the film online or buy the DVD today.