DENDY has become the latest cinema to ban a controversial film exploring the men’s rights movement, following pressure from feminist groups.

A sold-out April 26 session at Dendy Newtown for The Red Pill, a documentary by US filmmaker Cassie Jaye, has been cancelled, and a session scheduled for Dendy Canberra on May 17 also appears to have been ditched.

The showings were organised by cinema crowdsourcing website FanForce. Dendy, the art house cinema chain owned by Mel Gibson’s Icon Film Distribution, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Red Pill - Trailer The Red Pill - Trailer

The Red Pill, which premiered in the US last October, features the “feminist filmmaker” Jaye beginning “to question her own beliefs” as she “sets out to document the mysterious and polarising world of the Men’s Rights Movement”.

“Jaye had only heard about the Men’s Rights Movement as being a misogynist hate-group aiming to turn back the clock on women’s rights,” the film’s blurb says, “but when she spends a year filming the leaders and followers within the movement, she learns the various ways men are disadvantaged and discriminated against.”

Among the issues the film touches on are male suicide rates, workplace fatalities, sexual assault, family court and custody issues.

In November, Kino Palace Cinemas in Melbourne cancelled the Australian premiere of the film after a Change.org petition calling on the chain to ditch the “misogynistic propaganda film” attracted more than 2000 signatures.

“[At] the time of accepting the booking ... we were unaware of the content of the film. Although we are yet to see it, we have since become aware of the controversial nature of the documentary,” Palace wrote in a letter to Men’s Rights Melbourne.

“Much of the feedback that we have received assumes that the choice of film was our curatorial decision rather than that of the cinema hirer, which is potentially damaging to our credibility as we are yet to see the film so cannot stand by its contents in the face of the criticism we are receiving.

“It’s unfortunate that it has come to this, however we have come to a decision based on the overwhelmingly negative response we have received from our valued customers.”

Another cinema later showed the film and there have been a handful of screenings in Australia so far, including one in Brisbane which organisers said was held at a “secret” venue “to avoid the feminist establishment harassing staff”.

Last week, the University of Sydney Student Union announced it had banned showing the film on union premises, ahead of a planned screening on May 4 organised by the three conservative student groups.

“The Red Pill is purported to be a film which highlights issues specific to men in our society,” the USU said in a statement. “The USU is obviously supportive of efforts to bring awareness to, and to combat, issues such as the higher suicide rate for men than women.

“The reality of The Red Pill, however, is much more sinister. This documentary is decidedly anti-feminist and anti-woman, focusing not on the ways in which the systemic issues of patriarchy may also adversely affect men, but instead placing the blame on women and feminism specifically for men’s issues.”

The USU said the film was “rooted in an ideology which ultimately dehumanises women, seeing them merely as sex objects who exist primarily to purposefully negatively impact the lives of men”, saying it had the “capacity to intimidate and physically threaten women on campus”.

“Most dangerously, the film features commentary from Men’s Rights Activist Paul Elam, who has claimed that young women ‘[have] the equivalent of a I’M A STUPID, CONNIVING BITCH — PLEASE RAPE ME neon sign glowing above their empty little narcissistic heads’ and that if he were to serve on a jury in a case related to sexual assault, he would find a male defendant not guilty even in the face of contrary evidence,” the USU said.

Nena Jaye, one of the producers of the film, wrote in a comment that her “jaw dropped” when she saw the statement “as there certainly is no promotion or discussion of sexual violence against women”.

“I find it very insulting that USU are accusing me of promoting sexual violence on campus,” she wrote. “I also feel they have not engaged in any form of discussion with us as they did not contact us before trying to shut us down.

“And have not replied to any of my emails, rather they continue to make outlandish remarks without any reference to the actual content of the film.”

According to The Australian, Cassie Jaye wrote a response to the USU announcement that has not been published: “If you ask someone who deeply cares about gender equality to look into men’s issues, that person is going to realise that men have issues that deserve to be addressed, and that is what happened when I was making The Red Pill.

“When I decided to look into the Men’s Rights Movement, I realised that gender equality goes beyond feminism. Gender equality requires looking at the bigger picture, which includes men’s experiences.”

frank.chung@news.com.au