Censors in the Canadian province of Ontario have upheld a ban on the theatrical release of French title Baise-moi, directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi.

According to the film's Canadian distributor, Quebec-based Remstar Distribution, which planned to open the film in Canada's three main markets, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, the film was approved in Quebec and British Columbia.

Citing the film's "brutally violent and explicit rape scene" among other issues, the Ontario Film Review Board's appeal panel wrote: "we are concerned that should this film be generally released, it could set several precedents, and that the inevitable release on video format would ensure its availability to inappropriate age groups."

Craig Adlard, Remstar executive director of English Canadian releasing, told ScreenDaily that the company has requested the list of required cuts to consider pursuing that option. In a letter of support for the filmmakers, Kay Armatage, a programmer with the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film screened this September, said Baise-moi "challenges the limits of women's rights to expression."