Canadian Director Xavier Dolan Faces Criticism for Graphic Bullying Video

Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan is in the midst of a controversy for directing a video for French band Indochine that features a teen student being bullied and crucified at a convent school by a group of boys.

The video of the song "College Boy" shows a teenager being taunted, beaten, urinated on by other students and lastly crucified and shot. The police arrives wearing blind-folds and they too shoot the boy. Other students, too with blind-folds on, record the incident on their mobile phones.

France has banned the video during daytime viewing hours and Quebec's MusiquePlus said they will not air the video. According to French newspaper Le Monde, a media regulating council will study the video and decide its course of action. Francoise Laborde, a regulatory body member told the newspaper that they would at least decide on the viewing of the video for people above 16 and 18.

YouTube has put a warning on the video for its graphic content and at some places the violent scenes have been replaced by shots of the band playing.

Reacting to the criticism, 24-year-old Dolan told CBC News that the censorship on the video is unreasonable when youngsters have access to violence on TV and negative portrayals of women in hip-hop videos.

"I'm not surprised there is a reaction, I'm surprised we're talking about censorship because I think there is a crucial age and that is 11, 10, 13, 14, 15 - the teenage years, when things still have a strong impression on you," he said. "This is the age you need to be educated on violence and the true consequences." He defended his work saying that the video sends a clear message of non-violence.

Nicola Sirkis, a member of Indochine said the video is all about intolerance.

Bullying in schools has been a growing concern among parents and educators both. According to the National Education Association nearly 160,000 students miss school every day due to fear of being bullied.

The American Medical Association estimates that around 3.7 million youths engage in bullying, and more than 3.2 million are victims of "moderate" or "serious" bullying each year. (Cohn and Canter study done in 2003)

You can watch the video here. Warning: The video has graphic content.