DOCUMENTARY WHODUNIT EXPLORES FILM-RATING SECRECY.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

The Motion Picture Association of America has long been a thorn in the side of many filmmakers over its ratings system.

Why does violence merit a lesser rating than sex? And why does sex merit a lesser rating than gay-theme sex? And just who are the men and women of the ratings board, whose identities are kept secret, anyway?

Independent filmmaker Kirby Dick wanted answers to these questions so much that he hired a private investigator and documented the findings in his new IFC release, ``This Film Is Not Yet Rated.''

``The MPAA says it's a ratings system for the public. Well, if it's for the public, it should be public,'' he says. ``I'm doing something they should have done a long, long time ago.''

A founding member of IFP-West, now F.I.N.D., one of the largest independent film organizations in the U.S., Dick made the documentary after a decade of watching the MPAA Ratings Board ``unfairly'' rate independents -- particularly independents that deal with adult sexuality -- without offering any explanation.

The most people get are brief descriptions beneath the copyrighted symbols -- G: General Audiences; PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned; R: Restricted; and NC-17: No One 17 and Under Admitted.

``Make it about the content descriptors, not these five-word haikus like `some graphic horror, violence.' What does that mean? Wouldn't a parent like to know, for example, that it took a film nine times to get its PG-13 rating?'' says Eddie Schmidt, who produced the documentary. ``Why? What were the scenes in question?

``Secretiveness is never a good thing in a democracy,'' adds Schmidt. ``We feel that parents rely on the system because -- I think Matt Stone said it in the film -- they're the only game in town.''

The board was set up in 1968 as a voluntary ratings system. It meets in the MPAA's headquarters in Encino -- a fortress of a building we see cased in the film by Becky Altringer of Ariel Investigations in La Verne.

``In a way, it speaks volumes about the secretiveness of the process that we had to hire a P.I. in order to find anything out about it,'' Schmidt says.

Altringer's pursuit involves jotting down license plate numbers, eavesdropping on conversations between possible screeners at lunch and digging through trash cans.

Dick, meanwhile, tags along.

At one point, he almost blows Altringer's cover by videotaping a known rater having lunch in a restaurant.

``I figured she would just assume that I was some nutcase,'' he said. ``I'm sure as soon as she saw the film in the ratings room it all flashed back.''

Submitting the film to the board is part of his documentary. It got an NC-17 for sexual content because of sex scenes that were cut from other films, like ``The Cooler'' and even the puppet film ``Team America: World Police.''

IFC, however, chose to release ``Not Yet Rated'' unrated.

While it restricts a film in terms of distribution, a ``no rating'' isn't considered as onerous as an NC-17.

``The effect comes in if the film is successful, if it platforms out beyond an art-house release,'' Dick says. ``At that point, that's when it starts restricting distribution. And that's why studios and investors, even in independent films, really demand of their filmmakers that they get an R rating because they don't want -- nor should they have -- their return limited by a ratings system.''

In addition to hiring a private investigator, the film illustrates its point through controversial film clips and interviews with filmmakers.

John Waters at one point wonders whether his involvement in ``This Film Is Not Yet Rated'' will have any repercussions on his future projects.

Dick says he got a lot of that.

``I was very surprised at the paranoia about speaking about the ratings system,'' he says. ``Many people were afraid that their feature films would be more harshly rated, and some were even afraid of being branded as troublemakers in Hollywood.''

But not Dick.

``As a filmmaker and as an artist, you have to be willing to take risks, whether it's political, personal or aesthetic,'' he says. ``Otherwise, there's no reason to do what you do.''

Sandra Barrera, [phone]

sandra.barrera(at)dailynews.com

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Independent filmmaker Kirby Dick, left, and producer Eddie Schmidt delve into the doings of the MPAA Ratings Board in their new documentary ``This Film Is Not Yet Rated.''