An Albuquerque judge has fined a group responsible for organizing a Nob Hill adult film festival.
After three years, the judge decided the theatre that has hosted the Pornotopia film festival is not zoned for adult entertainment, but organizers say the show will go on.
The Guild Theatre near Central and Carlisle has hosted the Pornotopia film festival— an event that has attracted both porn lovers and controversy.
The festival will likely be held somewhere else.
Matie Fricker, the co-owner of Self Serve, a sex store in Nob Hill, is trying to figure out where she can host Pornotopia later this year.
She has organized the festival since it started in 2007.
A Metro Court judge fined the Guild Theatre $500 for a building code violation stemming from one of the previous festivals, saying the theatre is not zoned for adult entertainment.
“I was hoping the judge would side on the side of the constitution,” Fricker said Thursday. “I think that we have a right to be there, I think we have a right to do what we want in our neighborhood— there’s been no negative community effects.”
City officials admit there have been no formal complaints from the public about the event, but now their legal department is checking to see if the Guild can be fined for the other two festivals.
City Code Compliance official Matthew Conrad said, “We are satisfied with the judge’s decision.”
Fricker says now her challenge is to find a business with a theatre that is zoned for adult entertainment to host this year’s event, but she’s confident she will succeed and make the festival bigger and better than ever.
Fricker said, “This is a pit stop along the way and we will be continuing to fight the fight.” - KOB.com