'Bully' Continues Run of PG-Ratings in Canada

TORONTO – Bully is still bullet-proof with Canadian censors.

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Manitoba and Ontario are the latest provinces to give the Lee Hirsch documentary about school bullying a PG-rating.

The favorable ratings from the Ontario Film Review Board and the Manitoba Film Classification Board are the latest all-clears for the U.S. documentary, which earned a restrictive R-rating from the MPAA stateside.

“In the wake of continued controversy surrounding the Motion Picture Association of America’s restricted rating for Bully in the United States, the parental guidance ratings across Canada reinforce the film’s universal message that bullying must be urgently addressed with audiences of all ages,” Alliance Films, which is distributing the U.S. documentary countrywide from April 6, declared Tuesday in a statement.

The Ontario censors warned “parental guidance is advised” for Bully, and included a warning for “coarse language.”

And Manitoba’s classification board ruled that “all may view, rent or buy; however, parental guidance is advised.”

Movie classification boards in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta last week gave Bully PG-ratings ahead of its theatrical bow.

Canadian movie ratings are set by individual provinces, and local censors have proved more forgiving than the MPAA about profane language that pops up in Bully.

Lee Hirsch’s film earlier screened at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto.