Protesters Shut Down Marquez Movie

The Nobel-prize winning writer's tale of a 90 year old bachelor who enjoys a night of "wild love with an adolescent virgin" on his birthday was set to be transformed for the big screen in Mexico later this month (Oct09).

But campaigners from the Regional Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean have successfully managed to close down the shoot - after filing a criminal complaint at Mexico's Attorney General's office on Monday (05Oct09).

The Mexican state of Puebla's government has since confirmed it has pulled funding for the project, therefore shutting down filming in the area.

Campaigner Teresa Ulloa insists the book's topic would promote the child sex trade if it made it to cinemas: "As a book, it does not have access to the most vulnerable people in society. Once they make the movie, it will be in movie theatres and later it will surely be on television."

But the film's co-director and producer Ricardo del Rio insists a 21 year old actress had been cast in the film, and the storyline did not even touch upon the character's age.

He says, "They are censoring a film before it's been made, without knowing either the script or the vision of the director. Here they have simply killed our adaptation. They have dealt us a fatal blow because we can't film without all the resources."

The book was released in 2004, and was a hit with critics in Mexico.