‘The People’s Joker’ Filmmaker Says She Was Pressured Not to Screen at TIFF by ‘Angry Letter’ From ‘Media Conglomerate’

thewrap.com:

social media post, on the eve of the film’s premiere, “a media conglomerate that shall remain nameless sent me an angry letter (misreported as a “cease and desist”) pressuring to not screen.”“The People’s Joker” is a mixed media film set in Gotham City that re-imagines Batman villain the Joker as a trans person in a city where comedy has been criminalized.

As an independent film, it was made by Drew without permission from Warner Bros. Discovery, but the filmmaker maintains it’s protected by fair use and copyright law.“Any other film festival would have pulled us immediately,” Drew’s statement continues, “But after being fully transparent with TIFF, we agreed to premiere as planned while sacling back our later screenings to mitigate potential blowback.

It was disappointing (especially since I went to great lengths with legal counsel to have it fall under parody/fair use) but I made this choice to protect our film’s future and to protect our new friends at TIFF who have been some of PTJ’s biggest advocates.”Drew added that the film will continue screening in the hopes of securing a distribution partner.“’The People’s Joker’ will screen again very soon at several other festivals worldwide.

We are humbly seeking a distribution partner who believes in what we are doing, will protect us, and will eventually help us make this film accessible to trans people and their families everywhere.”The statement concludes, “FREE THE PEOPLE’S JOKER.”Drew previously explained to Collider why she believes the film falls under fair use protection and thus can be distributed.“I think this film can be 100% distributed,” Drew said. “It is completely protected under fair use and copyright law.