POLICE OVERTURN CENSORS, BAN MOVIE.(Main)

Byline: William Claiborne Washington Post

Hours after it began showing at theaters across the country, South African authorities Friday banned Sir Richard Attenborough's film "Cry Freedom" even though it had been approved by a state censorship appeals board.

Later, the South African commissioner of police ordered that all copies of the film be seized. The head of the distributing company said that police raided some theaters during showings and seized the film.

The summary ruling by Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee against the film about black leader Steve Biko and his friendship with a white newspaper editor, Donald Woods, created widespread confusion. Theater owners had opened their doors to matinee showings half an hour after the state Publications Appeal Board passed it, uncut, for screening.

Coetsee, citing the sweeping 1982 Internal Security Act, said the …