MOVIES - Oct. 5, 1988

Johannesburg police Tuesday ordered the seizure of videocassettes of the American anti-apartheid film “Cry Freedom,” which was banned from cinemas two months ago. Police said bootlegged copies of the film already are being circulated in South Africa, and that these pirated copies and any legitimate copies of the film on video will be seized. “ ‘Cry Freedom’ is interspersed with propagandistic misrepresentations . . . (the video version of the film) endangers the safety of the public, the maintenance of public order and will delay the termination of the (28-month-old) state of emergency,” the statement added. Government censors had approved the Sir Richard Attenborough film for South African cinemas, and it began showing in South Africa on July 29. However, police seized the film several hours later saying it contributed to the country’s “revolutionary climate.”