This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Parisian director Paul Verhoeven is suing the Cannes film festival, claiming that his 2009 drama Teenagers was not accepted because of sexual prejudice.

The lawsuit is the first ever filed against the festival. The low-budget film, which details the relationship between two teenage boys, was shown at other festivals around the world but it was rejected when submitted to Cannes.

The 73-year-old film-maker, who is no relation to the Dutch director of Basic Instinct, emailed a representative to enquire as to the reasoning and was accidentally copied in on an email which referred to his film as ethically “very doubtful”.

During a video deposition to judges, Verhoeven stated that the film was potentially important enough to “turn young people away from terrorism, suicide, delinquency and homophobia”. He seeks either the festival being forced to show the film this year or pay for it to be screened in cinemas.

The claims of homophobia against the festival have come as a surprise to many Cannes regulars. Last year, British drama Pride debuted at the festival – and went on to win the coveted Queer Palm – while in 2013 the Palme d’Or was won by Blue is the Warmest Colour.

A spokesman for the festival called the case “absurd” and said that films were rejected or accepted on grounds of quality alone.

The film received scant and poor reviews but did take top prize at the 2011 California film awards.

A ruling is due later this month.