Squeeze is a New Zealand film that follows the fortunes of a young man as he begins to find his way around gay life in the city of Auckland.

It was considered very controversial at the time; presumably because homosexuality was still a crime in New Zealand and possibly because the characters included a bisexual man and a male prostitute.

The New Zealand Film Commission refused to offer financial support, arguing that there was no market for the film, so funds were raised privately. And yet, despite the lack of public funding, New Zealand’s morals campaigner Patricia Bartlett still launched a campaign demanding that it did not receive public funding! Her organisation, the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards, also picketed the movie’s premier, with banners carrying messages such as “God says No!”

It is believed that her campaign led to an additional clause in the Film Commission Act, stating that the Commission must have ‘due regard for normal standards of general public morality’ before supporting a film financially.

But producer Richard Turner’s problems didn’t end with the government and the moral entrepreneurs. The film was also slammed by some LGBT activists both in New Zealand and abroad for not being radical enough.

Nonetheless, it did receive generally positive reviews after playing at a number of film festivals around the world and is still seen as a milestone in LGBT film-making in New Zealand. A 10 minute excerpt can be seen here (My thanks to Lorna Subritzky for this link.)