March 30th, 2010
The Malaysian Home Ministry website has just published new censorship guidelines for films this week. Restrictions around profanity and displays of intimacy between adults have been relaxed, if they are “appropriate” to the context of the film. However the Board still remains firm on nudity, sex and negative depictions of Muslims, unless the filmmaker is wishing to “depict a person’s transformation from being evil to good”.August 20th, 2009
A Japanese horror film entitled Grotesque has been refused an 18 certificate by the British Board of Film Classification. BBFC director David Cooke said that he and other colleagues had made the decision as “the chief pleasure of the film seemed to be the spectacle of sadism for its own sake.” The last film that the BBFC turned down for an 18 certificate was 2004’s Murder Set Pieces. Read more here
August 6th, 2009
On 1 August, Hamas screened its first feature length film. It documents the life of Imad Aqel, a Palestinian militant accused by the Israelis of killing 13 soldiers and settlers. Hamas already owns a satellite television channel, a radio station and several newspapers. The director of the film has said he hopes to show the film at Cannes Film Festival.
Read more here