There was no censorship. The problem, as is so often the case in Quebec, is that the main language here is French, according to the big head of Cinemas Guzzo.
If Sound of Freedom hasn’t been seen in Quebec theaters since it opened last week in the United States and the rest of Canada, it’s because distributor Angel Studios didn’t see any commercial interest in making a French version of the film to produce.
The dubbing of a feature film can incur significant costs for distributors. The problem is that they don’t always see the potential of this investment, explains Vincent Guzzo.
Sound of Freedom’s strong performance at the US box office convinced Cinémas Guzzo to partner with Angel Studios to distribute a French-subtitled version of the film in Quebec starting July 14.
Angel Studios has chosen to distribute the film through us. Technically we are the distributor, but we didn’t buy the rights, stresses Mr. Guzzo, recalling that, with the exception of the productions of some major studios, any film broadcast in Quebec must have a Quebec distributor.
Angel Studios and Cineplex – which presents Sound of Freedom elsewhere in Canada – did not respond to our interview requests.
According to Vincent Guzzo, a cinema’s job is to respond to public demand. “It’s not a way of promoting my values,” he says.
Photo: Radio Canada
Inspired by a not entirely true story
Sound of Freedom is inspired by the story of Tim Ballard and his organization, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), who claim to conduct operations to rescue victims of child trafficking.
In 2020, an investigation by Vice News (New Window) showed that OUR had grossly exaggerated its role in the rescue of an exploited woman in New York and that the ties it allegedly had to the Secret Service and agencies of the Secret Service and to the Authorities had virtually non-existent.
Another study published by Vice News the following year (New Window) harshly criticized OUR’s methods. People who have worked with the organization said their techniques are amateurish.
According to her, OUR often put victims of human trafficking at risk, and in the eyes of the organization, the spectacle counted for more than the result.
A film that appeals to conspiracy theorists
Therefore, it is not true that the film was censored in Quebec, and other misinformation about the Sound of Freedom is also circulating.
Some claim that Australian actor Mel Gibson directed or financed the film, when in fact he only promoted it. Others mistakenly believe it is a documentary or that the feature film sheds light on a child organ trafficking ring.
Sound of Freedom has everything to please a conspiracy increasingly obsessed with these issues due to the themes covered, such as child trafficking.
Many conspiratorial headliners have promoted it in Quebec, arguing that it is a film that the elite do not want to see. Some of them also welcomed the announcement that the film would be shown at the Cinémas Guzzo.
The QAnon conspiracy movement has gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Portal/Carlo Allegri
Lead actor Jim Caviezel is well known in conspiracy circles. Again and again he propagated ideas related to the “QAnon conspiracy” in public speeches.
According to the report, a senior member of former US President Donald Trump’s administration published prophetic messages in a far-right forum announcing that the then-President was leading a sort of coup against an allegedly pedo-satanic deep state within the US government apparatus.
The central figure of this conspiracy, an unknown person with the pseudonym Q, has since disappeared and no longer posts messages. His multiple predictions, including that Hillary Clinton would be arrested and jailed, or that Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation would overthrow current President Joe Biden’s administration, have never materialized.
During a conference (New window) Jim Caviezel, organized by supporters at the height of this movement in 2021, had delivered an angry speech invoking several elements of the QAnon conspiracy. He has also supported The Adrenochrome Conspiracy Theory (New Window)which is partly due to the QAnon movement.
This theory holds that the pedostatic elite extract adrenochrome from the bodies of tortured children and then use this substance as a drug to produce psychotropic effects or delay aging.
Although adrenochrome is a real substance released by the human body, the notion that it has hallucinogenic effects is a fiction from American journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s pseudo-autobiographical novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
correction : A previous version of this article incorrectly mentioned that a film must have a French version in order to be classified and distributed in Quebec.
