Washington  - A few hundred students gathered at a US university campus to watch a pornographic film, chanting slogans about free speech and protesting threats by a state senator to cut funding if the movie was screened.

Students of the University of Maryland watched excerpts of Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge on Monday night, which was followed by a discussion on free speech by lawyers and professors.

Only half an hour of the two-and-a-half-hour film was shown - but the students had made their point.

Senator Andrew Harris, a Republican in the Maryland state legislature, had last week threatened to block 424 million dollars of funding to the university after the movie was set to be screened at the student union, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

"I know some students would like to portray this as a free speech issue. It is not," Harris said in a statement. The screening at the student union theatre was cancelled last week. On Monday, the film was shown at a lecture hall and was not paid for by the university.

Some students thought it was a controversy over nothing, while a few were appalled that the film was shown on campus. "That was crazy. I don't know what they were thinking, to put that in a public viewing, especially on a college campus," Idara Inokon, 19, told the Post. "It's just not appropriate."

The university said in a statement: "Although not condoning this movie or any excerpts from it that might be shown, the University of Maryland must allow this event, but has insisted that it include an educational component."

For the Student Power Party coalition, the push to go ahead with the film despite threats was to show that they would not be bullied.

"It's a great opportunity to have more of a dialogue on free speech and the role of pornography in society," said Malcolm Harris, one of the organizers, adding that Harris was also invited, but declined. (dpa)