Film censorship

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Under film censorship means the regulatory control of a state on the form and content of films and their distribution. Typical objects of film censorship are depictions that encourage criminal acts, particularly haunting depictions of cruelty as well as depictions that can offend the sense of shame in the relevant culture (nude depictions, sexual acts). In some societies, e.g. In totalitarian regimes, for example , film censorship also serves to suppress the articulation of political, ideological or artistic contradictions.

The spectrum of measures taken by film censorship ranges from editing requirements and distribution restrictions to a complete ban on the performance, distribution or distribution of a film. Occasionally, the production of unwanted films is suppressed from the outset (see e.g. National Socialist Film Policy ).

Germany

Before the First World War , the federal states were responsible for film censorship, also known as the Oberprüfung. In 1912 Prussia set up the first state office for film censorship in Berlin to end the regional chaos of different film releases. During the First World War, the military authorities were responsible for film censorship. After 1918, film censorship was completely eliminated. The Weimar Constitution of 1919 restricted the ban on censorship again.

Empire

Whereas since 1895 there had only been post-censorship by the police, preliminary police censorship was introduced when the police chief of Berlin issued a police ordinance on May 5, 1906. The occasion was the filming of the escape of the robbery murderer Karl Rudolf Hennig under the title The escape and persecution of the robbery murderer Rudolf Hennig over the roofs of Berlin . Other German countries issued similar police regulations. There were central censorship institutions in the police departments of Berlin and Munich. The authorities reacted inconsistently during the First World War. On the one hand, a number of companies received the license to film at the front, on the other hand, the police headquarters initially confiscated all relevant film material. Oskar Messter then worked out the censorship regulations for photographic and cinematographic images for the General Staff. Images of current war events, dead, seriously injured, weapons, airplanes and military port facilities were generally prohibited.

Film censorship in the Weimar Republic

Lichtspielgesetz. Dated May 12, 1920, published in the German Reich Law Gazette on May 15, 1920

In the Weimar Republic , the legal basis for film censorship was created with the Film Act of May 12, 1920. The film inspection office in Munich and the chief inspection office in Berlin were responsible for the implementation . The subject of the examination were all films that were to be shown publicly in Germany after the law came into force, i. H. also foreign films and those that were completed or shown before 1920. The film titles and promotional material were also checked. In the liberal Weimar Republic, censorship was based on purely police principles. The reasons for the prohibition consisted of endangering vital interests of the state, public order or security .

Film censorship in National Socialist Germany

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With the Film Act of February 16, 1934, film censorship was considerably tightened in Germany. First, all films that had received their approval before 1934 had to be re-examined. Second, in order to prevent unwanted films from being made at all in the future, a Reichsfilmdramaturg was commissioned with the preliminary examination of every film project. Thirdly, the catalog of reasons for prohibition has been expanded. From 1934 onwards, the Film Inspectorate was also able to prohibit films that seemed likely to " offend National Socialist, religious, moral or artistic feelings, have a brutal or demoralizing effect, or endanger Germany's reputation or Germany's relations with foreign states ". The censorship was centralized in Berlin from March 1934, the previously existing censorship in Munich was dissolved.

Allied military censorship (1945)

Immediately after the German surrender, the high command of the victorious Allied powers had all copies of German feature films in circulation confiscated in accordance with the "News Control Regulation 2" issued in June 1945. These films were then checked and only released for showing again if they were harmless (“Category A”). Each copy had to be provided with a "film screening license" confirming the release of the film. Some films were only allowed to be shown again after the editing requirements were met (“Category B”).

219 films were completely banned ("Category C"):

  • Films that glorified the ideology of National Socialism , Fascism or racial differences,
  • Films that idealized war and militarism ,
  • Films that falsified German history
  • Films that glorified the German Wehrmacht ,
  • Films that aroused or ridiculed contempt for the Allies , their governments and their political leaders,
  • Films that promoted German thoughts of revenge,
  • Films that criticize or ridicule religious feelings or religious customs,
  • Films that idealized the thoughts or deeds of German political leaders whose views were imperialist,
  • Films in which an NSDAP member was involved as a producer, production manager, director, author, screenwriter, actor, composer or music editor.

The Allied military authorities also ordered " professional bans " for film artists and actors who had worked in Nazi propaganda films, such as Veit Harlan and Kristina Söderbaum , but also z. B. Georg Jacoby , Ilse Werner and Sybille Schmitz . Every projectionist also required approval and registration from the Allied authorities.

Censorship in the Federal Republic of Germany

Some of the films banned by the Allies remained so-called reserved films after 1949 and may only be shown in closed events and with a competent introduction. The rights of use for these films are held by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation , which only permits such performances. The foundation does not permit the reproduction or distribution of the reserved films.

Most of the films banned under Allied military censorship were allowed to be shown without restrictions after 1949. Most of the films were even given an age rating by the FSK , which took over the duties of the Allied film censorship after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany .

In the Federal Republic of Germany , general censorship is prohibited by Article 5, Paragraph 1, Clause 3 of the Basic Law . However, in order to monitor and punish violations of the Youth Protection Act , films and other media are checked by the federal inspection agency for media harmful to minors .

Nevertheless, film censorship was implemented by Section 5 Clause 1 of the Law on the Supervision of Criminal and Other Movement Bans (VerbrVerbB):

It is forbidden to bring films which, according to their content, are suitable as propaganda means against the free democratic basic order or against the idea of ​​international understanding, in the spatial scope of this law, insofar as this serves the purpose of distribution.

On the basis of this paragraph, for example, in 1963 the Federal Office for Commercial Economics (now BAFA ) banned the free showing of the films Alexander Newski by Sergei Eisenstein and The higher principle by Jiři Krejcik , who describes the terror of the Germans in the Czech Republic after the Heydrich assassination, both because of allegedly anti-German scenes.

In Germany, section 131 of the German Criminal Code is also important for the film sector , which criminalizes the distribution (but not the possession, and according to some judgments, not even the mere sale) of writings that glorify violence . Numerous DVDs or video films, some of which are classics of their genres (e.g. Blood Feast by HG Lewis , The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by Tobe Hooper , Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero or Braindead by Peter Jackson ), and are freely available outside of Germany, were and are confiscated in Germany on the basis of § 131 and are therefore hardly accessible in full even for adults. In order to avoid confiscation, other films are only released in a heavily edited version that has been defused especially for the German market.

Since all members of the SPIO have committed themselves to only bring films with FSK approval to the cinema, in some cases even adults cannot watch a film in the cinema, or not watch it uncut. One example of this is the film The Punisher , which the FSK only rated in one cut version as “not approved for young people”. In general, the principles of the FSK list very strict criteria under which a film can be approved at all. Films that violate “moral or religious feelings” are not allowed to receive a rating. Today this provision no longer plays a major role; In 1983, however, Herbert Achternbusch's religion-critical film Das Gespenst was refused a classification on the same grounds. As far as the (non-pornographic) representation of sexuality is concerned, the FSK (as well as the BpjM) is developing a more liberal judgment practice. Depictions of violence and BDSM are still critical .

In the 1950s and 1960s, an inter-ministerial committee for East-West film issues , which had an advisory function vis-à-vis the Federal Commercial Office, initiated numerous politically motivated performance bans. It should also be noted that the commercial showing of films in Germany is currently only possible with official approval.

GDR

Although the constitution of the GDR, amended in 1968, promised freedom of expression and even explicitly excluded censorship, the SED always took the liberty of carrying out censorship where it seemed politically necessary, even without a legal basis. See main article: Censorship in the GDR .

Characteristic of the practice of censorship in the GDR was the uncertainty about the rules as to which films should be suppressed and which should be allowed. Since the censorship did not officially exist, there were no guidelines. None of the films that were finally banned were anti-state or anti-party; at most, they articulated the longing for an improved, more humane socialism . Some films were only shown after editing requirements. A scene had to be cut from Ernesto Remani's film “ Die Schönste ” (1957) in which bananas and pineapples were lying on the kitchen table of a West Berlin working-class family; life in the west could not be presented more attractively than that in the east. The “scissors in the head” was also characteristic of the situation in the GDR. H. the self-censorship of filmmakers who were constantly concerned about whether their productions would get screened. In the case of some artists, the subordination went so far that they were extremely suspicious of less well-adjusted colleagues. The result was a national cinema in which artistic innovations and experiments were dared far less often than in many other socialist countries. Even films from the USSR were occasionally not allowed to be shown in the GDR (e.g. Die Reue , Georgian: მონანიება, Monanieba , Russian Pokajanie , Tengis Abuladze , 1984, premiered in the USSR 1987). The death of Stalin brought only a brief political "thaw" in the GDR; in terms of film production, the liberalization only lasted from 1962 to 1965. In 1965, a number of films, known as basement films, were banned because they disappeared in the archive.

Prohibited DEFA films (selection):

Switzerland

Switzerland has no central authority that reviews films; each canton has its own age limit for films shown in cinemas. Since 1989, certain cinematic works have been generally prohibited by Art. 135 of the Criminal Code:

“Anyone who produces, imports, stores, puts into circulation sound or image recordings [...] which, without having any cultural or scientific value worthy of protection, vividly depict cruel acts of violence against humans or animals and thereby seriously violate the elementary dignity of humans , advertises, exhibits, offers, shows, leaves or makes accessible, is punished with imprisonment or a fine. "

Since 2002, the mere possession of such objects has also been a criminal offense. There are also articles of law that are directed against films that glorify violence and incite violence. Art. 261bis, the so-called racism penal norm , prohibits hate speech against ethnic groups.

The so-called “Prohibited List” only has an advisory function for the courts and police authorities. It is processed by the Swiss Video Association (contact address: Rainbow Video AG, 4133 Pratteln) and by the Bern City Police. It can also be requested there.

Notable films on the Swiss prohibited list:

The “Prohibited List” is not binding and it is sometimes possible to purchase the better-known films such as “Braindead” in larger stores like Media Markt , as the list is not actually published and for this reason the dealers and buyers do not know about its content are informed.

The Swiss film censorship is best known for the ban on Stanley Kubrick's “ Paths to Glory ” from 1958 to 1970; however, the ban was issued by the Federal Council . In 2013 the film censorship law was repealed in the canton of Uri.

United States

In the USA until 1930 film censorship existed only in individual states. After various social interest groups publicly advocated the introduction of general film censorship, the film industry anticipated the creation of a national censorship authority by introducing self-censorship . The Motion Picture Production Code (" Hays Code ") introduced in 1930 prohibited a. the favorable representation of criminal acts, the representation of cruelty, sexual representations, nudity, profanity, vulgarity and the violation of religious and national feelings. After a change in social values ​​set in in the 1960s and films that were not entirely compatible with the Production Code found increasing approval, the Code was finally abandoned and replaced in 1968 by a rating system ( MPAA film rating system ) in which only the Suitability of films for certain age groups is examined.

Russia / Soviet Union

The censorship in Tsarist Russia was one of the harshest in Europe. After the failed revolution of 1905, it was virtually impossible in film to address contemporary problems. In order not to come into conflict with the censorship, the filmmakers often turned to historical subjects or classic works of Russian literature. Film censorship was temporarily lifted only after the February Revolution of 1917 .

However, the October Revolution was followed by the nationalization of the Russian film industry, which was then placed under the control of the Soviet state and reopened to censorship. After temporary easing under Lenin's New Economic Policy was carried out the nationalization definitively at the end of 1922 with the establishment of central coordination company Goskino , from the 1925 Sowkino -Trust was. The Soviet censorship authorities established in 1922 and 1923 were called Glawlit (Главлит) and Glawrepertkom (Главрепертком). According to a decision by the secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU , all scripts had to be submitted to the censorship authority from the end of 1928. In addition, state-appointed censors were sent to the film studios to act as political inspectors and were appointed members of so-called “artistic councils”, who could intervene in the ongoing process of a film production. Since 1930 a “repertoire committee” has decided every year which films from the previous total production could continue to be shown.

Uniform guidelines by which the censorship authority could orientate itself when banning or admitting films did not exist in the USSR at any time. As the country's top censor, Stalin banned individual films at his own discretion. Not only individual films, even entire groups of films, were removed from the cinema programs and placed in the poison cabinet; after the conclusion of the German-Soviet non-aggression pact z. B. All Soviet films that denounced National Socialism were withdrawn from circulation. After Stalin's death and the onset of criticism of the personality cult , all films that had glorified Stalin disappeared.

From 1928 to 1953 the freedom of filmmakers was restricted even more by the Stalinist doctrine of Socialist Realism than by censorship. During the political “ thaw ” during Khrushchev's time , a certain degree of liberalization took place temporarily, but this was reversed after Khrushchev was replaced by Brezhnev (1964). Film censorship was only abolished in individual republics of the Soviet Union after they became independent in 1991.

Forbidden Soviet films (selection):

Since July 1, 2014, cinema films in Russia require an official distribution license.

China

The censorship in the People's Republic of China plays an important role today. Many films that are successful in the West are or were banned in China, for example Beijing Bicycle , which was shown at the Berlinale, has only recently been officially shown in China. And one of the most successful Chinese films of all time, Farewell, My Concubine , should actually be banned. It was only after Deng Xiaoping personally spoke out in favor of the film and some scenes were cut that it could also be shown in China. Environmental documentaries were also censored.

Examples of film censorship in a broader sense

“Film censorship” is the control that a state exercises over its authorities on the form and content of films and their distribution. If non-governmental institutions such as broadcasters or film production companies take appropriate measures on their own initiative and without direct government pressure, the use of the term “censorship” - however widespread it may be - is problematic.

Synchronization of films

A more subtle form of censorship can sometimes be found in the dubbing of films, in which unpopular content of the original text is translated incorrectly or not at all. Famous examples include the Spanish version of Casablanca under the Franco dictatorship (the lovers mutated with siblings), the German post-war version of Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (the Communist Partisan was literally silenced) as well as in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious one Old Nazi conspiracy mutated into a drug ring. There is also a West German version of Casablanca from the 1950s, in which any reference to the Third Reich has been deleted.

In Paul Verhoeven's controversial science fiction classic Starship Troopers, on the other hand, the German dubbing weakened the distinctive difference between “citizens” and “civilians”, whereby the political-satirical component of the film is lost.

Editing of films for television broadcasting

In the United States, broadcasters impose strict guidelines on films that are to be broadcast on free-to-air television ( public broadcast ) via terrestrial channels. In order to comply with these guidelines, the production companies often have to produce a special television version of a film in which everything that appears unsuitable for a broader audience is obscured by extensive cuts and retouching . Subject of this type of censorship ( broadcast censorship ) are v. a. Nude representations ( nudity ) and obscene language ( strong language ).

swell

  1. ↑ Ursula Nagy: Protection or Inhibition? An outline of the history of German film censorship. In: Alles Buch - Studien der Erlanger Buchwissenschaft XXXII 2009, from p. 42. 2009, accessed on August 25, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b Joachim von Gottberg: The FSK turns 50. (No longer available online.) Mediaculture online, s. Prehistory, 1999, archived from the original on November 21, 2015 ; Retrieved August 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.paedml.de
  3. ↑ Herbert Birett, When should film censorship take place? NZZ from May 12, 2006 ( Memento from August 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Klaus Kreimeier: Dream and Excess. The cultural history of early cinema. Zsolnay, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-552-05552-0 , p. 246. Here also examples of censored films.
  5. ↑ Klaus Kreimeier: Dream and Excess. The cultural history of early cinema. Zsolnay, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-552-05552-0 , p. 364 f.
  6. ^ Text of the Film Act 1920
  7. ^ Matthias Weiß: Sense and History - The cinematic self-presentation of the National Socialist national community. In: Regensburg scripts on literary studies. 1999, accessed August 25, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Text Lichtspielgesetz 1934 with further references
  9. ^ Film and history - political and legal framework conditions for building up a film production after 1945. In: www.geschichte-projekte-hannover.de. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Dealing with the film heritage of the Nazi era | Topics | filmportal.de. In: www.filmportal.de. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Peter Gleber: Between Yesterday and Tomorrow. Film and cinema in the post-war decade. (No longer available online.) 1996, archived from the original on September 11, 2014 ; Retrieved August 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lmz-bw.de
  12. ↑ Hanns-Georg Rodek: How much poison is there in the “reserve films”? In: Welt Online . January 31, 2012 ( online [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  13. ↑ On the history of cinema in the Nazi era. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Third Reich (1933-1945) | Murnau Foundation. (No longer available online.) In: www.murnau-stiftung.de. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved August 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.murnau-stiftung.de
  15. ^ Film censorship - here and elsewhere . In: The time . April 30, 1965 ( online [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  16. ↑ German film miracle. Nazis always better, Dietrich Kuhlbrodt, Konkret Literatur Verlag, 2006.
  17. ↑ Film censorship and self-control ( memento of the original from September 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 225 kB), Martin Loiperdinger @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lmz-bw.de
  18. ↑ Stefan Volk: Forbidden Films in the Federal Republic The Censorship of the Cold Warriors . In: Spiegel Online . July 7, 2014 ( online [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  19. ^ Hannah Arendt Institute - Research. (No longer available online.) In: www.hait.tu-dresden.de. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; Retrieved August 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hait.tu-dresden.de
  20. ^ Censorship of DEFA films in the Federal Republic. Federal Agency for Civic Education, December 18, 2008, accessed on August 25, 2015 .
  21. ↑ Kulturstiftung des Bundes - DEFA-Verbotsfilme 1965 - 1990 - 2015. (No longer available online.) In: www.kulturstiftung-des-bundes.de. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved August 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kulturstiftung-des-bundes.de
  22. ↑ Scissors in the head . In: The time . ( online [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  23. ↑ - The scissors in the head. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Günter Agde: “The Dove on the Roof” is finally coming to the cinema . In: Welt Online . September 7, 2010 ( online [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  25. ^ Everyday life in the GDR in film Forbidden and censored DEFA films | bpb. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  26. ↑ Nino Ketschagmadze: Forbidden Defa Films: Insight into the East German Soul . In: Spiegel Online . December 15, 2000 ( online [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  27. ^ Solveig Grothe: Forbidden Films in the GDR How Simon Learned to Love the Bomb . In: Spiegel Online . March 19, 2009 ( spiegel.de [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  28. ^ Canton of Uri: Film censorship law repealed. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  29. ↑ The return of censorship. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  30. ↑ Film censorship is being decentralized. In: german.china.org.cn. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  31. ^ Mark Siemons: Film censorship in China W for arbitrariness . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . January 25, 2013, ISSN  0174-4909 ( online [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  32. ↑ Bernhard Zand: Alarming environmental documentary: China's censorship silences smog filmmakers . In: Spiegel Online . March 6, 2015 ( online [accessed August 25, 2015]).
  33. ↑ Robert Brauer: Film synchronization in the mirror of the zeitgeist. (No longer available online.) 2008, archived from the original on November 21, 2015 ; Retrieved August 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.robertbrauer.de
  34. ↑ Exhibition prohibited! Film censorship in Europe | Murnau Foundation. (No longer available online.) In: murnau-stiftung.de. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015 ; Retrieved August 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / murnau-stiftung.de
  35. ↑ Martin Loiperdinger: Film censorship and self-control - political maturity examination. (No longer available online.) 2004, archived from the original on September 10, 2014 ; Retrieved August 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lmz-bw.de
  36. ↑ Film book review: CineGraph (Ed.) “Verboten! Film censorship in Europe ”. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .
  37. ↑ Bad translation and untranslatable. Retrieved August 25, 2015 .

literature

Germany until 1945

  • Ursula Keitz: Films in Court. Theory and practice of film exams in Germany from 1920 to 1938. Frankfurt am Main 1999.
  • Klaus-Jürgen Maiwald: Film censorship in the Nazi state. Nowotny, Dortmund 1983.

Federal Republic of Germany

  • Werner Biedermann (ed.): Censored, indexed, discussed or "Censorship takes place occasionally". Adult Education Center , Essen 2000, DNB 1049721616 .
  • Michael Humberg: From the adult ban to the youth release. Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-933060-42-6 .
  • Thomas Nessel: The constitutional ban on censorship. Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-428-11499-X .
  • Johanne Noltenius: The voluntary self-regulation of the film industry and the prohibition of censorship in the Basic Law. Goettingen 1958.
  • Roland Seim: Between media freedom and censorship. Münster 1997, ISBN 3-933060-00-1 .
  • Gerrit Binz: Film Censorship in German Democracy. Material change through institutional shift from the state Weimar film examination to the voluntary self-regulation of the film industry in the Federal Republic? Kliomedia , Trier 2006, ISBN 3-89890-103-3 .

GDR

  • Wenke Carlsen: Everyday life in the GDR between film cameras and state censorship. The production of everyday images in selected documentaries by Karl Gass in the fifties and sixties. A film, production and review analysis. Thesis . University of Leipzig, 2002.
  • Kristina Trolle: Film censorship in the GDR: the banned DEFA fiction films from 1965/66. Thesis. University of the Arts, Berlin 2002.

Soviet Union

  • Christine Engel (ed.): History of Soviet and Russian film. JB Metzler, Stuttgart 1999.
  • Eberhard Nembach: Stalin's film policy. The rebuilding of the Soviet film industry from 1929 to 1938 . Gardez !, St. Augustin 2001.
  • Frank-Burkhard Habel (Hrsg.): Cut films. Gustav Kiepenheuer, Leipzig 2003.

United States

  • Gregory D. Black: The Catholic Crusade against the Movies, 1940-1975. Cambridge University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-521-62905-5 .

Web links

Germany

United States

Other countries