VON TRIER CUTS DOGVILLE SEQUEL

Danish director LARS VON TRIER is furious he's been forced to cut a scene featuring a donkey being slaughtered from DOGVILLE movie sequel MANDERLAY - after receiving hundreds of complaints.

The controversial footage, which has already been shot, depicts famished inhabitants of a small town killing and quartering the animal, which had been put to sleep by veterinarians.

American actor JOHN C REILLY abandoned the project last year (APR04) in protest over the bloody scene.

But Von Trier argues, "Animal welfare is important, but the welfare of humans is in my eyes even more important, and that includes freedom of expression and the right to a political debate."