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Office of Film and Literature Classification (New Zealand)
Encyclopedia
The Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) is the government agency in New Zealand
that is responsible for classification
of all films, videos
, publications, and some video games in New Zealand. It was created by the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993
(FVPC Act), replacing various film classification acts, and is an independent Crown Entity in terms of the Crown Entities Act 2004
. The head of the OFLC is called the Chief Censor, maintaining a title that has described the government officer in charge of censorship in New Zealand
since 1916.
The FVPC Act gives the OFLC jurisdiction to classify "publications" which include films, videos
], DVDs, computer games
with restricted content, books, magazines, comics
, manga
, sound recordings, pictures, newspapers, photographs, photographic slides, "any print or writing", any "paper or other thing" that has images or words on it (including apparel, playing cards, greeting cards, art
, store-fronts and billboards), and electronic digital
image, text and sound computer files. The OFLC also approves film posters and slicks. Only computer games with restricted content, and all films, videos, and DVDs, must carry a label before being offered for supply or exhibited to the public.
Any person may submit any of the "publications" listed above for classification by the OFLC, with the permission of the Chief Censor. The Secretary for Internal Affairs, Comptroller of Customs, Commissioner of Police and the Film and Video Labelling Body may submit publications for classification without the Chief Censor's permission. The Courts have no jurisdiction to classify publications. If the classification of a publication becomes an issue in any civil or criminal proceeding, the Court must submit the publication to the OFLC. Any person who is dissatisfied with a decision of the OFLC may have the relevant publication, but not the OFLC decision, reviewed by the Film and Literature Board of Review.
. Unrestricted films are assigned a green or yellow rating label. Restricted films are assigned a red classification label.
New Zealand has used a colour-coded labelling system since 1987. The colours are intended to convey the messages conveyed by a traffic light
: a green label means that nothing in the film, video or DVD should inhibit anyone viewing it; a yellow label means proceed with caution because the film, video or DVD may have content younger viewers should not see; and a red label means stop and ensure that no one outside of the restriction views the film, video, DVD or computer game. The New Zealand classification system currently uses the following labels:
Red labels have been available for non-film publications such as magazines and video games since 2005.
". Specifically (from the FVPC Act): "a publication is objectionable if it describes, depicts, expresses, or otherwise deals with matters such as sex
, horror
, crime
, cruelty
, or violence
in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good." In 2000, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand
decided in Living Word Distributors Limited v Human Rights Action Group (Wellington) [2000] NZCA 179 (a case involving two videos produced by Jeremiah Films
) that the collocation of the words "sex, horror, crime, cruelty or violence" tends to point to activity rather than to the expression of opinion
or attitude
. On this interpretation, the OFLC had jurisdiction to restrict or ban publications describing or depicting sexual activities, but not those describing only an attitude or opinion about sex. The same interpretation required publications to describe or depict horror activities, criminal activities, cruel activities and violent activities, rather than just an opinion or attitude about those things, for the OFLC to be able to classify them.
The Court of Appeal explicitly ruled that the phrase "matters such as sex" is strongly indicative of sexual activities and does not include sexual orientation
. This made it more difficult for the OFLC to restrict or ban, for example, publications that simply exploited the nudity
of children or that portrayed classes of people as inherently inferior but that did not show any of the specified types of activity, notwithstanding the fact the FVPC Act directs the censors to give "particular weight" to these things when deciding whether or not to restrict or ban a publication. It also made it difficult for the OFLC to restrict publications simply containing offensive language or to ban videos of persons taken without their knowledge or consent, such as "upskirt
" videos, on the ground of invasion of privacy
, again because neither type of publication shows any of the specified types of activity. In 2005, Parliament amended the FVPC Act, and commenced amendment of the Crimes Act, to restore the OFLC's jurisdiction over all of these matters except for publications that simply portray classes of people as inherently inferior.
Under the FVPC Act, material that promotes, supports, or tends to promote or support the following is, by its nature, deemed objectionable (banned):
The Censorship Compliance Unit of the Department of Internal Affairs is responsible for the enforcement of the FVPC Act.
The Chief Censor is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Office of Film and Literature Classification.
and Hawke's Bay
(2004 and 2005); Underage Gaming (2005); Young People's Use of Entertainment Mediums (2006); Public Perceptions of Highly Offensive Language (2007); Viewing Violence: Audience Perceptions of Violent Content in Audio-Visual Entertainment (November 2008); Public Perceptions of a Violent Video Game X-Men Origins: Wolverine (August 2009); A Review of Research on Sexual Violence in Audio-Visual Media (August 2009); and Report of a Public Consultation about The Last House on the Left (October 2009).
The OFLC also regularly convenes panels that are demographically representative of New Zealand as a whole to assist it with the classification of particular publications. It has convened public panels to assist it with the classification of films such as Baise-moi
, Salo, Monster's Ball
, Irréversible
, Silent Hill
, Du er ikke alene
, Lolita
, 8MM
and Hannibal. More frequently, the OFLC consults experts to assist it with the classification of various publications. For example, religious experts were consulted to assist with the classification of The Passion of the Christ
, experts in road safety were consulted on Mischief Destroy, the Children's Commissioner on Ken Park
and The Aristocrats
, homeopathic practitioners on drug manufacturing books written by Steve Preisler
, various human rights organisations and the Vicar of Gisborne
on a publication entitled Against Homosexualityhttp://tencommandments.org/, and rape crisis centres
and psychologists on Irréversible
and an edition of the University of Otago
student magazine Critic.
Each year, the OFLC consults media studies students in its high school programme called Censor for a Day during which an unreleased film is shown to high school students who are then asked to classify it applying the criteria in the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. The students' classification is compared with, and usually identical to, the film's actual classification. Films used for Censor for a Day have included There's Something About Mary
, American Pie
, Road Trip, Final Destination 3
, V for Vendetta
, Thirteen
, Crazy/Beautiful
, Garage Days
, The Notorious Bettie Page
, Atonement
, Charlie Bartlett
, Defiance
and Jennifer's Body
.
(SPCS) has repeatedly criticised the OFLC for not banning films such as Baise-moi
, Irréversible
, Takashi Miike
's Visitor Q
and Lies
which it classes as highly pornographic
and violent.
SPCS has recently targeted films scheduled for exhibition in the Beck's Incredible Film Festival and the New Zealand International Film Festivals. SPCS criticisms fail to note that New Zealand censorship laws have required censors to consider artistic and literary merit since the debate over Stanley Kubrick
's first cinematic adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov
's Lolita
in 1960.
Having apparently exhausted its avenues of appeal over censorship decisions, in 2006 the SPCS began to criticise the financial management of the OFLC. It complained to the Auditor General that the OFLC was inefficient and mis-managed taxpayer funds. The Auditor General dismissed the SPCS' complaint, stating that "no evidence of waste was found during the course of the audit" of the OFLC.
In June 2007, Exit International Director Dr Philip Nitschke
described the decision by the Classification Office banning The Peaceful Pill Handbook
as "very disappointing" while recognising "that the Censor was under intense political pressure over this decision"http://www.exitinternational.net/. The book was banned because it promotes and encourages criminal activity by offering instruction in how to smuggle and manufacture controlled drugs in violation of a number of statutes, not because it advocates reform of the law to permit the seriously ill and elderly access to pentobarbital.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
that is responsible for classification
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
of all films, videos
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
, publications, and some video games in New Zealand. It was created by the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993
Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993
The Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand.It repealed the Indecent Publications Act 1963, the Films Act 1983 and the Video Recordings Act 1987.-External links:*...
(FVPC Act), replacing various film classification acts, and is an independent Crown Entity in terms of the Crown Entities Act 2004
Crown Entities Act 2004
The Crown Entities Act 2004 is a New Zealand statute which provides the framework for the establishment, governance, and operation of Crown entities and to clarify accountability relationships between Crown entities, their board members, their responsible Ministers on behalf of the Crown, and the...
. The head of the OFLC is called the Chief Censor, maintaining a title that has described the government officer in charge of censorship in New Zealand
Censorship in New Zealand
Censorship in New Zealand has changed over the years to reflect the demands for a more liberal application of the law on contentious publications....
since 1916.
The FVPC Act gives the OFLC jurisdiction to classify "publications" which include films, videos
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
], DVDs, computer games
Computer Games
"Computer Games" is a single by New Zealand group, Mi-Sex released in 1979 in Australia and New Zealand and in 1981 throughout Europe. It was the single that launched the band, and was hugely popular, particularly in Australia and New Zealand...
with restricted content, books, magazines, comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
, manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, sound recordings, pictures, newspapers, photographs, photographic slides, "any print or writing", any "paper or other thing" that has images or words on it (including apparel, playing cards, greeting cards, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, store-fronts and billboards), and electronic digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
image, text and sound computer files. The OFLC also approves film posters and slicks. Only computer games with restricted content, and all films, videos, and DVDs, must carry a label before being offered for supply or exhibited to the public.
Any person may submit any of the "publications" listed above for classification by the OFLC, with the permission of the Chief Censor. The Secretary for Internal Affairs, Comptroller of Customs, Commissioner of Police and the Film and Video Labelling Body may submit publications for classification without the Chief Censor's permission. The Courts have no jurisdiction to classify publications. If the classification of a publication becomes an issue in any civil or criminal proceeding, the Court must submit the publication to the OFLC. Any person who is dissatisfied with a decision of the OFLC may have the relevant publication, but not the OFLC decision, reviewed by the Film and Literature Board of Review.
Labels
The FVPC Act gives the OFLC the power to classify publications into three categories: unrestricted, restricted, and "objectionable" or bannedBan (law)
A ban is, generally, any decree that prohibits something.Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some see this as a negative act and others see it as maintaining the "status quo"...
. Unrestricted films are assigned a green or yellow rating label. Restricted films are assigned a red classification label.
New Zealand has used a colour-coded labelling system since 1987. The colours are intended to convey the messages conveyed by a traffic light
Traffic light
Traffic lights, which may also be known as stoplights, traffic lamps, traffic signals, signal lights, robots or semaphore, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control competing flows of traffic...
: a green label means that nothing in the film, video or DVD should inhibit anyone viewing it; a yellow label means proceed with caution because the film, video or DVD may have content younger viewers should not see; and a red label means stop and ensure that no one outside of the restriction views the film, video, DVD or computer game. The New Zealand classification system currently uses the following labels:
| Label | Name | Definition |
|---|---|---|
 |
General | Suitable for general audiences (awarded by the Film and Video Labelling Body and the Office of Film and Literature Classification) |
 |
Parental Guidance | Parental guidance recommended for younger viewers (awarded by the Film and Video Labelling Body and the Office of Film and Literature Classification) |
 |
Mature | Suitable for (but not restricted to) mature audiences 16 years and up (awarded by the Film and Video Labelling Body and the Office of Film and Literature Classification) |
 |
R13 | Restricted to persons 13 years of age and over (awarded by the Office of Film and Literature Classification only) |
 |
R15 | Restricted to persons 15 years of age and over (awarded by the Office of Film and Literature Classification only) |
 |
R16 | Restricted to persons 16 years of age and over (awarded by the Office of Film and Literature Classification only) |
 |
R18 | Restricted to persons 18 years of age and over (awarded by the Office of Film and Literature Classification only) |
 |
Restricted | Restricted to a particular class of persons, or for particular purposes, or both, specified by the Office of Film and Literature Classification |
Red labels have been available for non-film publications such as magazines and video games since 2005.
Classification law
The OFLC classifies material based on whether it is likely to be "harmful" or "injurious to the public goodPublic good
In economics, a public good is a good that is non-rival and non-excludable. Non-rivalry means that consumption of the good by one individual does not reduce availability of the good for consumption by others; and non-excludability means that no one can be effectively excluded from using the good...
". Specifically (from the FVPC Act): "a publication is objectionable if it describes, depicts, expresses, or otherwise deals with matters such as sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
, crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, cruelty
Cruelty
Cruelty can be described as indifference to suffering, and even positive pleasure in inflicting it. If this is supported by a legal or social framework, then receives the name of perversion. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept....
, or violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good." In 2000, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand
Court of Appeal of New Zealand
The Court of Appeal of New Zealand, located in Wellington, is New Zealand’s principal intermediate appellate court. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather than in the Supreme Court...
decided in Living Word Distributors Limited v Human Rights Action Group (Wellington) [2000] NZCA 179 (a case involving two videos produced by Jeremiah Films
Jeremiah Films
Jeremiah Films is a media production and distribution company founded by Christian conservative Patrick Matrisciana, based in Jacksonville Beach, Florida and has been managed by his son since 2009....
) that the collocation of the words "sex, horror, crime, cruelty or violence" tends to point to activity rather than to the expression of opinion
Opinion
In general, an opinion is a subjective belief, and is the result of emotion or interpretation of facts. An opinion may be supported by an argument, although people may draw opposing opinions from the same set of facts. Opinions rarely change without new arguments being presented...
or attitude
Attitude (psychology)
An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for something. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event— this is often referred to as the attitude object...
. On this interpretation, the OFLC had jurisdiction to restrict or ban publications describing or depicting sexual activities, but not those describing only an attitude or opinion about sex. The same interpretation required publications to describe or depict horror activities, criminal activities, cruel activities and violent activities, rather than just an opinion or attitude about those things, for the OFLC to be able to classify them.
The Court of Appeal explicitly ruled that the phrase "matters such as sex" is strongly indicative of sexual activities and does not include sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. This made it more difficult for the OFLC to restrict or ban, for example, publications that simply exploited the nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
of children or that portrayed classes of people as inherently inferior but that did not show any of the specified types of activity, notwithstanding the fact the FVPC Act directs the censors to give "particular weight" to these things when deciding whether or not to restrict or ban a publication. It also made it difficult for the OFLC to restrict publications simply containing offensive language or to ban videos of persons taken without their knowledge or consent, such as "upskirt
Upskirt
Upskirt refers to the practice of making unauthorized photographs under a female's skirt, capturing an image of her crotch area and underwear. The term "upskirt" can also refer to a video, illustration or photograph which incorporates the upskirt image. The term is also sometimes used to refer...
" videos, on the ground of invasion of privacy
Invasion of privacy
United States privacy law embodies several different legal concepts. One is the invasion of privacy, a tort based in common law allowing an aggrieved party to bring a lawsuit against an individual who unlawfully intrudes into his or her private affairs, discloses his or her private information,...
, again because neither type of publication shows any of the specified types of activity. In 2005, Parliament amended the FVPC Act, and commenced amendment of the Crimes Act, to restore the OFLC's jurisdiction over all of these matters except for publications that simply portray classes of people as inherently inferior.
Under the FVPC Act, material that promotes, supports, or tends to promote or support the following is, by its nature, deemed objectionable (banned):
- The sexual exploitation of childrenChild pornographyChild pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
- coercionCoercionCoercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
- extreme violenceViolenceViolence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
- Bestiality
- NecrophiliaNecrophiliaNecrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
- Urophilia
- CoprophiliaCoprophiliaCoprophilia , also called scatophilia or scat, is the paraphilia involving sexual pleasure from feces...
The Censorship Compliance Unit of the Department of Internal Affairs is responsible for the enforcement of the FVPC Act.
List of Chief Censors
- William Jolliffe 1916-1927
- W A Tanner 1927-1937
- W A von KeisenbergW A von KeisenbergWilliam Arthur Leopold von Keisenberg was New Zealand's third Chief Censor, a position he held from 1938 to 1949.- Career :...
1938-1949 - Gordon MiramsGordon MiramsGordon Holden Mirams was born in Christchurch on 9 March 1909, the son of Leslie Haywood Mirams and Mary Elvire Webb. He married Ruth Taylor in Christchurch on 23 November 1932...
1949-1959 - Douglas McIntosh 1960-1976
- Bernard Tunnicliffe 1977-1983
- Arthur EverardArthur EverardArthur Everard graduated with a BA in psychology from Victoria University of Wellington and worked for 19 years as a writer, editor and director at the National Film Unit...
1984-1990 - Jane WrightsonJane WrightsonJane Wrightson was born in Hastings, New Zealand in 1958. She became New Zealand’s eighth Chief Censor, and first woman Chief Censor, in 1991, a position she held until the Films, Videos, and Publications Act was passed in 1993...
1991-1993 - Kathryn PatersonKathryn PatersonKathryn Paterson was raised in the sea-side town of Umina, north of Sydney, Australia, the daughter of June, a teacher, and Phil Paterson, a pharmacist....
1994-1998 - Bill HastingsBill HastingsHis Honour Judge William Kenneth Hastings was New Zealand's tenth Chief Censor, from October 1999 to July 2010. He is currently a District Court Judge and Chair of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal.-Biography:...
1999-2010 - Dr Andrew Jack 2011-
The Chief Censor is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Office of Film and Literature Classification.
Research
The OFLC regularly conducts research into a variety of issues concerning media regulation. Since 2000, it has published research on Public and Professional Views Concerning the Classification and Rating of Films and Videos (2000); Public Consultation on Sexually Explicit Videos (2001 and 2002); A Guide to the Research into the Effects of Sexually Explicit Films and Videos (2003); The Viewing Habits of Users of Sexually Explicit Movies in WellingtonWellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay is a region of New Zealand. Hawke's Bay is recognised on the world stage for its award-winning wines. The regional council sits in both the cities of Napier and Hastings.-Geography:...
(2004 and 2005); Underage Gaming (2005); Young People's Use of Entertainment Mediums (2006); Public Perceptions of Highly Offensive Language (2007); Viewing Violence: Audience Perceptions of Violent Content in Audio-Visual Entertainment (November 2008); Public Perceptions of a Violent Video Game X-Men Origins: Wolverine (August 2009); A Review of Research on Sexual Violence in Audio-Visual Media (August 2009); and Report of a Public Consultation about The Last House on the Left (October 2009).
The OFLC also regularly convenes panels that are demographically representative of New Zealand as a whole to assist it with the classification of particular publications. It has convened public panels to assist it with the classification of films such as Baise-moi
Baise-moi
Baise-moi is a French film co-directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi, released in 2000. It is based on the novel by Despentes, first published in 1999. The film received intense media coverage because of its graphic mix of violence and explicit sex scenes...
, Salo, Monster's Ball
Monster's Ball
Monster's Ball is a 2001 romantic drama film directed by Marc Forster, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, and Heath Ledger, and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. It was produced by Lionsgate and Lee Daniels Entertainment....
, Irréversible
Irréversible
Irréversible is a 2002 French drama film written and directed by Gaspar Noé, starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel. The film employs a non-linear narrative and follows two men as they try to avenge a brutally raped girlfriend...
, Silent Hill
Silent Hill
is a survival horror video game series consisting of seven installments published by Konami and its subsidiary Konami Digital Entertainment. The first four games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4, have been developed by an internal factor, Team Silent...
, Du er ikke alene
Du er ikke alene
You Are Not Alone is a 1978 Danish coming-of-age film written by Lasse Nielsen and Bent Petersen, directed by Lasse Nielsen and Ernst Johansen and produced by Steen Herdel.- Synopsis :...
, Lolita
Lolita
Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian...
, 8MM
8mm (film)
8mm is a 1999 mystery/thriller film, directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Nicolas Cage as a private investigator who delves into the world of snuff films.-Plot:...
and Hannibal. More frequently, the OFLC consults experts to assist it with the classification of various publications. For example, religious experts were consulted to assist with the classification of The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
, experts in road safety were consulted on Mischief Destroy, the Children's Commissioner on Ken Park
Ken Park
Ken Park is a 2002 drama film. The screenplay was written by Harmony Korine, who based it on Larry Clark's journals and stories. The film was directed by Larry Clark and Ed Lachman....
and The Aristocrats
The Aristocrats (film)
The Aristocrats is a 2005 documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name. It was conceived and produced by comedians Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, edited by Emery Emery, and released to theaters by TH!NKFilm...
, homeopathic practitioners on drug manufacturing books written by Steve Preisler
Uncle Fester (author)
Uncle Fester is the nom de plume of Steve Preisler, author of such controversial books as Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture, and Silent Death.-Short bio:...
, various human rights organisations and the Vicar of Gisborne
Gisborne, New Zealand
-Economy:The harbour was host to many ships in the past and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool was shipped...
on a publication entitled Against Homosexualityhttp://tencommandments.org/, and rape crisis centres
Rape Crisis Centers
Rape crisis centers , also called Sexual Assault Centers, are often community-based organizations affiliated with the anti-rape movement that work to help victims of rape, sexual abuse, and sexual violence. Central to a community’s rape response, RCCs provide a number of services, such as victim...
and psychologists on Irréversible
Irréversible
Irréversible is a 2002 French drama film written and directed by Gaspar Noé, starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel. The film employs a non-linear narrative and follows two men as they try to avenge a brutally raped girlfriend...
and an edition of the University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...
student magazine Critic.
Each year, the OFLC consults media studies students in its high school programme called Censor for a Day during which an unreleased film is shown to high school students who are then asked to classify it applying the criteria in the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. The students' classification is compared with, and usually identical to, the film's actual classification. Films used for Censor for a Day have included There's Something About Mary
There's Something About Mary
There's Something About Mary is a 1998 American comedy film, directed by the Farrelly brothers, Bobby and Peter. It stars Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon and Ben Stiller, and it is a combination of romantic comedy and gross-out film....
, American Pie
American Pie (film)
American Pie is a 1999 teen comedy film written by Adam Herz. American Pie was the directorial film debut of brothers Paul and Chris Weitz, and the first film in the American Pie film series...
, Road Trip, Final Destination 3
Final Destination 3
Final Destination 3 is a 2006 supernatural slasher film, and the third film in the Final Destination series. The film was directed and written by James Wong, who co-wrote and directed the first film, and was produced by Craig Perry. It was released in North America on February 10, 2006...
, V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta (film)
V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...
, Thirteen
Thirteen (film)
Thirteen is a 2003 American drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, the film's co-star. The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Holly Hunter. It is a semi-autobiographical film inspired by Reed's life at age 12 and 13 with Wood's character "Tracy" being...
, Crazy/Beautiful
Crazy/Beautiful
Crazy/Beautiful is a 2001 American drama/romance film starring Kirsten Dunst and Jay Hernandez. It is largely set at Palisades Charter High School and the surrounding area, including Downtown Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, Malibu , and East Los Angeles .-Plot:Nicole — the spoiled, rich,...
, Garage Days
Garage Days
Garage Days is a 2002 Australian film directed by Alex Proyas and written by Proyas, Dave Warner and Michael Udesky. The Garage Days soundtrack includes the song "Garage Days" featuring Katie Noonan, David McCormack and Andrew Lancaster.-Plot:...
, The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page is a 2005 American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner focuses on 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page.-Plot:...
, Atonement
Atonement (film)
Atonement is a 2007 British romantic suspense war film directed by Joe Wright. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan. It was produced by Working Title Films and filmed throughout the summer of 2006...
, Charlie Bartlett
Charlie Bartlett
Charlie Bartlett is a 2008 comedy-drama film directed by Jon Poll. The screenplay by Gustin Nash focuses on a teenager who begins to dispense therapeutic advice and prescription drugs to the student body at his new high school in order to become popular....
, Defiance
Defiance (2008 film)
Defiance is a 2008 World War II era film written, produced, and directed by Edward Zwick, set during the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The film is an account of the Bielski partisans, a group led by three Jewish brothers who saved and recruited Jews in Poland during the Second World War...
and Jennifer's Body
Jennifer's Body
Jennifer's Body is a 2009 black comedy horror film written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama. The film stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, and Adam Brody. Fox portrays a newly-possessed teenage serial killer specializing in killing her male classmates as her best friend...
.
Criticism
The Society for the Promotion of Community StandardsSociety for the Promotion of Community Standards
The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards is a conservative Christian-dominated organisation in New Zealand. The Society's objectives include the encouragement of "self-respect and the dignity of the human person, made in the image of God", the "recognition of the sanctity of human life...
(SPCS) has repeatedly criticised the OFLC for not banning films such as Baise-moi
Baise-moi
Baise-moi is a French film co-directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi, released in 2000. It is based on the novel by Despentes, first published in 1999. The film received intense media coverage because of its graphic mix of violence and explicit sex scenes...
, Irréversible
Irréversible
Irréversible is a 2002 French drama film written and directed by Gaspar Noé, starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel. The film employs a non-linear narrative and follows two men as they try to avenge a brutally raped girlfriend...
, Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
's Visitor Q
Visitor Q
is a controversial 2001 film directed by Japanese director Takashi Miike. It was filmed as the sixth and final part of the Love Cinema series consisting of six straight-to-video releases by independent filmmakers via a brief but exclusive run at the minuscule Shimokitazawa cinema in Tokyo...
and Lies
Gojitmal
Lies is a controversial 1999 South Korean film depicting a sadomasochistic sexual relationship between a 38-year-old sculptor and an 18-year-old high school student...
which it classes as highly pornographic
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
and violent.
SPCS has recently targeted films scheduled for exhibition in the Beck's Incredible Film Festival and the New Zealand International Film Festivals. SPCS criticisms fail to note that New Zealand censorship laws have required censors to consider artistic and literary merit since the debate over Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's first cinematic adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
's Lolita
Lolita
Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian...
in 1960.
Having apparently exhausted its avenues of appeal over censorship decisions, in 2006 the SPCS began to criticise the financial management of the OFLC. It complained to the Auditor General that the OFLC was inefficient and mis-managed taxpayer funds. The Auditor General dismissed the SPCS' complaint, stating that "no evidence of waste was found during the course of the audit" of the OFLC.
In June 2007, Exit International Director Dr Philip Nitschke
Philip Nitschke
Dr. Philip Nitschke is an Australian medical doctor, humanist, author and founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International. He campaigned successfully to have a legal euthanasia law passed in Australia's Northern Territory and assisted four people in ending their lives before...
described the decision by the Classification Office banning The Peaceful Pill Handbook
The Peaceful Pill Handbook
The Peaceful Pill Handbook is a controversial book giving instructions on how to perform euthanasia. It was originally published in the U.S. in 2007 and was written by the Australian doctors Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart....
as "very disappointing" while recognising "that the Censor was under intense political pressure over this decision"http://www.exitinternational.net/. The book was banned because it promotes and encourages criminal activity by offering instruction in how to smuggle and manufacture controlled drugs in violation of a number of statutes, not because it advocates reform of the law to permit the seriously ill and elderly access to pentobarbital.
See also
- Angela Carr: Internet Traders of Child Pornography and Other Censorship Offenders in New Zealand: Department of Internal Affairs: Wellington: 2004 (available from the Department of Internal Affairs http://www.dia.govt.nz/
- David Wilson: Censorship In New Zealand: The Policy Challenges Of New Technology. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand 19 2002.
- David Wilson: Responding to the challenges: recent developments in censorship policy in New Zealand. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand 30 2007.