Posts Tagged ‘film censorship’
January 18th, 2012
The
Maltese government have announced plans to
over-haul censorship laws which affect stage performances and films. A three week consultation process has been launched with regards to newly proposed laws which aim to “fulfil the aspirations of the artistic community.” Tourism and Culture Minister Mario de Marco explained that the proposed amendments will move towards a system of
self-regulation. The amendments also propose that the cinema and stage regulations will be transferred from the police laws to the law which regulates the Malta Council for the Arts. De Marco regretted that current laws may have failed some people.
December 15th, 2011
The
Chinese government is
planning to tighten its already strict film censorship rules. A proposal from the State Council, released on their website earlier today, is part of a draft law which proposes to ban anti-government sentiments and messages of religious fanaticism from the cinema screen. If passed, the bill, which comes during a box-office boom in China, will increase the number of
banned subjects in Chinese cinema to 13. Another proposed ban could also prevent any film from “promoting” illegal drugs or terrorist activity.
October 10th, 2011
On 8 October, Actress Marzieh Vafamehr
was sentenced to 90 lashes and a year in jail for her performance in a film exploring censorship of artists in
Iran, according to reports from
Kalameh.com, an Iranian opposition website. Vafamehr was in a controversial film called “My Tehran for Sale”, which is about a young actress who takes on a secret life in order to pursue her artistic dreams, after having her theatre work banned by Tehran authorities. Vafamehr, who was initially arrested after the July release of the film, was released on bail later that month. Her lawyer reportedly filed to appeal on 9 October.
October 7th, 2011
An initially
banned horror film has been given an “18″ rating, after a number of cuts.
Human Centipede 2 was originally
banned in the UK for posing a “real risk of harm,” in June, but after 32 cuts, the British Board of Film Classification
(BBFC) granted it certification ahead of its DVD release. BBFC president Sir Quentin Thomas said that the sequel, in which a disturbed loner conducts bizarre human experiments, would still be difficult for viewers to watch, but said that the cuts “address all of the concerns raised when the board
refused a classification.”
December 21st, 2010
Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been
sentenced to six years in prison for “colluding in gathering and making propaganda against the regime”. Panahi has also been banned from directing films or speaking to the press for 20 years.
July 13th, 2010
A film by director Martyn See featuring a speech by former political detainee Lim Hock Siew,
has been banned by Singapore’s Information, Arts and Culture Ministry. The films shows Siew discussing the details of his internment, prompting the government to deem it “contrary to public interest” and demand its removal from YouTube. See has published details of the incident, including scans of the government’s letter to him, on
his blog.
June 11th, 2010
The Cambodian authorities have blocked a new documentary that indicts the government in the assassination of an outspoken trade union leader. Who Killed Chea Vichea? argues that Vichea, who championed better pay and working conditions for local factory workers, could not have been killed without the cooperation of Cambodia’s political elites. Two men, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for Vichea’s murder, were released in 2004 but remain on bail.
May 21st, 2010
Film-maker
Jafar Panahi has been imprisoned in Iran since 1 March after the government accused him of making a documentary about last year’s presidential election. He was to be on the Palme d’Or judging panel at the Cannes film festival this week where fellow Iranian film-maker, Abbas Kiarostami, called his arrest an “attack on art” and launched an appeal for his release on 18 May. Panahi has reportedly begun a
hunger strike until he is allowed to meet with a lawyer, see his family and be released.
