Vancouver is known to have a couple of protests in its history.
While nowadays it's often about politics or the environment, in 1981 a film being shown at Towne Cinema (now Studio Lounge on Granville Street) caused an uproar. Caligula, which stars the likes of Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren, was an "erotic historical drama" produced by the founder of Penthouse magazine.
While originally written as a political satire by Gore Vidal, the producers shot unsimulated sex scenes to add to the final film without the consent of the director, Tinto Brass; both Vidal and Brass disavowed the film.
Released in mainstream theatres, the film saw protests as people called it obscene; that includes a group in Vancouver.
The clip, from the Vancouver Archives and shot by local commercial photographer Hans Sipma, shows a group of protestors challenging filmgoers.
"We're protesting Caligula because it is the first hardcore porn film to run in a commercial theatre in Vancouver. It is our chance to ask the government why they don't keep the law," says one of the protestors in the video.
The clip, from 1981, also shows some of the arguments people got into out front of the theatre.
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