Houellebecq Cannot Stop the Erotic Footage: He Knew What He Was Getting Into, Judge Rules

“This is very bad news. I am shocked,” says French writer Michel Houellebecq. He has just lost his case at Amsterdam District Court. He cannot stop the controversial film footage showing him going to bed with a young woman in an Amsterdam hotel.

Houellebecq had sought a ban on the pornographic art film KIRAC 27, made by the KIRAC collective, in which he is shown engaging in sexual activity. According to the judge, the two parties signed a watertight contract beforehand. The writer knew what he was getting into: there had been extensive correspondence about the filming. Houellebecq therefore cannot suddenly back out afterwards, the judge hearing the application for interim relief ruled. He must pay KIRAC's legal costs of €1,393.

A wild and crazy rollercoaster ride

KIRAC filmmaker Stefan Ruitenbeek responds with relief. “The judge has delivered justice. Good. The pressure is off now. I have time to do what I was actually put on this earth to do: make a film. It has been a wild and crazy rollercoaster ride. Once the film is finished, we'll see what happens next.”

Ruitenbeek does not yet know exactly what the film will look like. It may still take some time, not least because Houellebecq, speaking by telephone from Paris, announces further legal action. Defiantly, the writer declares: “I will not lose without fighting this case all the way to the highest instance of Dutch law.”