Kenya banned the film adaptation of best-selling erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey from its cinemas on Wednesday, days before its worldwide release this weekend to advance sales of millions of tickets.
The Kenyan Film and Classification Board gave no reasons for its ban but frequently censors sexually explicit or liberal content in the socially conservative, largely Christian country.
It prohibited the 2013 blockbuster The Wolf of Wall Street which contains graphic depictions of sex and drugs, and the 2014 film Stories Of Our Lives, about the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Kenyans.
Fifty Shades of Grey, based on a 2011 novel by E.L. James, the first book of a trilogy, is about the relationship between a literature student and a wealthy entrepreneur, whose sexual tastes include bondage, domination and sadomasochism.
Dubbed “Mummy Porn” by critics, the book became a cultural phenomenon, spawning offshoots and parodies. The film is due to have its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on Wednesday.
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