A documentary about an unknown cultural tradition is responsible for the cancellation of an entire independent film festival.

OFF International(Canada) had their venue pulled by Paramount Theatre after they caught word Donkey Love was an Official Selection to the festival.

Festival director, Jeremy Heynen, stood firm by his decision to screen Donkey Love while the community was mixed and some people protested against the festival for his choice.

From nearly 250 submissions Jeremy said “I honestly think it’s one of the best documentaries we had submitted,”

Jeremy isn't the only person to feel this way as Donkey Love has been selected to 10 film festivals in 4 countries and 3 continents around the world recently winning the Best Documentary award in Australia.

The director of Donkey Love said "Do something about the fact this actually happens in the world if you don't like it, but don't censor the documentary, what's the point shooting the messenger?" and "It's a humorous documentary about a controversial topic but it's an actual documentary. We did our research and interviewed doctors, lawyers, police officers, animal rights activists, musicians who sing songs about their first love(a donkey), and even an author who wrote a book on the subject."

Daryl went on to say the only people who get upset are the people who haven't seen the film but feedback from those who've seen it is just the opposite. The tagline for the documentary has always been "It's Everything You Don't Want It To Be About" so maybe people should just read the tagline and if they're intrigued, watch the movie, if they can't handle it, don't, but sticking their head in the sand won't change the fact someone is having sex with a donkey, at this exact moment, while you're reading this article.

What's happened in Canada is an embarrassment to the country and a shame for independent filmmakers worldwide. The topic may be controversial but if people don't like the topic of a film the typical thing to do is simply don't go see it. Censoring a film festival is not the answer.

Donkey Love trailer can be seen on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1BePpr7xW0