God's Own Country director claims film "censored" on Amazon Prime

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 3d

The director of acclaimed gay movie God's Own Country says that the film "appears to have been censored" on Amazon Prime Video in the US.

The director of acclaimed gay movie God's Own Country has urged fans to boycott the film on Amazon Prime Video due to alleged censorship.

Francis Lee also wrote the movie, which stars Josh O'Connor as a young gay farmer from Yorkshire who falls in love with a Romanian migrant worker.

Upon its release in 2017, God's Own Country won a string of awards and also earned two BAFTA nominations and is available for purchase or rental on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service in the US.

In a post on Twitter, Lee told followers: "Dear friends in USA, God's Own Country appears to have been censored on @PrimeVideo (Amazon Prime). Until this is investigated please do not rent or buy on Amazon Prime. It is not the film I intended or made. I will report back."

The movie features several sex scenes between male characters, including one in a cattle trailer and an iconic 'mud' scene - both of which are said to have been edited for the Amazon release.

In a later post, Lee added: "I'm interested if any of you have evidence of @PrimeVideo (Amazon Prime USA) censoring naked women or intimate/sex scenes within heterosexual stories on their streaming service? Or if they just censor queer stories?"

Amazon has yet to comment on the allegations.