List of banned films

For nearly the entire history of film production, certain films have been banned by film censorship or review organizations for political or moral reasons. Censorship standards vary widely by country, and can vary within an individual country over time due to political change or shifting moral attitudes.

Many countries have government-appointed or private commissions to censor and rate productions for film and television exhibition. While it is common for films to be edited to fall into certain rating classifications, this list includes only films that have been explicitly prohibited from public screening.

Bans by country

Argentina

• 1985: Je vous salue Marie (Hail Mary), directed by Jean-Luc Godard, was banned due to its blasphemous and sexual content.

Australia

Australia's ACB (Australian Classification Board, formerly the Office of Film and Literature Classification, or OFLC) uses the Commonwealth Classification Act 1995 as a guide for the majority of the censorship within the country; however, each state and territory is free to make additional legislation (see Censorship in Australia). Australia is regarded by many to be the most restrictive on film ratings of all Western democratic countries, considering its history and prolific "refusal of classification" (tantamount to banning in other countries) to certain films.

In practice, films still get a short cinematic run before they are reviewed and prevented from being shown at cinemas or released on DVD. This is not a comprehensive list; many films that have been previously banned are not mentioned here (however, some have since been released uncut on DVD). Also not included are the numerous pornographic films deemed too excessive to release under an X18+ category, which are refused classification by the ACB.

Year	Name	Reason for banning	History	Current status (2011)	Citation
1964—1970	The Miracle, Viridiana, La Dolce Vita, Satyricon, The Silence, Blowup and Zabriskie Point	Various	R. J. Prowse is appointed Chief Censor and Campbell is appointed to the Appeals Board. During the 1960s, many films were banned.	Presumably unbanned at some point, as all films (bar The Silence, which is included on Bergman's Faith Trilogy DVD, rated R18+) are now classified M.
1971	N/A	N/A	Customs Minister Don Chipp begins the development of a new classification system which includes the much-needed R18+ rating for adult content; films that were once banned are gradually released.	N/A
1972	Pink Flamingos	Offensive content (exploitation, sexual violence, incest, adult themes, animal cruelty)	First banned in 1976. It was re-rated R18+, with four minutes of footage removed. It was re-banned in 1981, and another three times in 1983. In 1984 it was given an X18+ (banned in all states, although legally for sale in the two Territories), uncut. Soon after, attitudes towards sexual violence became stricter in the X18+ category; thus, it would not be possible to earn the X18+ again. It was re-banned in 1997, this version being the "25th Anniversary Edition" which added extra scenes. The distributor this time cut only two minutes to receive an R18+.	Allowed in a cut version (cut by the distributor, as the ACB does not cut films), rating R18+.
1974	The Texas Chain Saw Massacre	High impact explicit violence.	The ban was lifted in 1984.	Allowed uncut, rating R18+
1975	Vase de Noces (also known as Wedding Trough)	Obscenity	Under pressure from the Western Australian government, the Australian Classification Board decided to ban this arthouse Belgian film for obscenity. The film was banned from being played at the Perth International Film Festival. However, the authorities lifted the ban temporarily and the film was allowed to be screened. In 1976, the government decided to re-ban the film.	Still banned
1976	Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma	Offensive content (exploitation, sexual violence)	Pasolini's Salò was banned at the time of release. This ban was then reversed in 1993; the film was re-rated R18+ for a theatrical release. However, the ACB re-banned it in 1998 for "offensive cruelty with high impact". It was then approved for DVD-only (because its extra content gives it context) release in 2010, uncut.	Allowed uncut, rated R18+
1980	Caligula	Explicit scenes of sex and violence	In 1981 the ban was lifted, and a modified version with the rating R18+ was allowed. In 1984 the uncut version was released, and it received an X18+ rating. Later in 1984, the ACB decided to forbid films containing sexual violence and the film was re-banned. Ever since, the film has fluctuated between X18+ and R18+ (depending on the version). In 2010, the ACB refused the "Imperial Edition" DVD of Caligula a classification; it was also refused in 2005.	Still banned; arguably the widest-released of all banned films (in worldwide terms) that is not available uncut in Australia.
1984	Cannibal Holocaust	Explicit gore/gruesome scenes	The ban was lifted in 2005 and the film was shown in public, in a cut version with the rating R18+. In 2006, the film was allowed uncut.	Allowed uncut, rating R18+
1986	Lucker the Necrophagous	Graphic necrophilia content	No details	Still banned
	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2	Explicit violence content	There is a confirmation from 1992 of Customs forwarding an uncut print of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 to the ACB, who later released it to the person for whom delivery of the film was meant. The Board did not give it a rating, so "at the time it was unclear what this meant for the film's banned status". In 2006, the film was officially unbanned.	Allowed uncut, rating R18+
1990	Bad Taste	Unknown	The film got banned after a three-week run in cinemas. In 2005, it was unbanned.	Allowed uncut, rating R18+
1992	Nekromantik, Nekromantik 2	Necrophilic content	These two films, dealing with the subject of necrophilia, were discovered by the ACB when they were seized by Customs in 1992 and they were both banned.	Still banned.
	Buio Omega (also known as Beyond the Darkness)	High level violence and necrophilic content	The film was seized by Customs in 1992, and forwarded to the ACB. It was subsequently banned.	Still banned.
	The Beast in Heat (also known as SS Hell Camp)	Excessive sexual violence	The film was seized by Customs in 1992, and forwarded to the ACB. It was subsequently banned.	Still banned.
	Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend	Graphic depictions of sex and violence	Parts one and two of chapter four in this anime became the first animated features to be banned in Australia. In 2001, the ACB allowed a heavily-censored DVD release of the complete Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend and its sequels.	Allowed in a censored (by its British distributor) version, rated R18+
1995	Twelve films screened at Tasmania's Queer Film Festival, including Spikes and Heels, Coming Out Under Fire, What a Lesbian Looks Like, Mad About the Boy, 21st Century Nuns and Sex Fish	Violation against the state of Tasmania's Criminal Code Act (1924)	Tasmania was (at the time) the only Australian state in which homosexuality (specifically "gay male sexual activity") was illegal. The festival has now moved to Melbourne.	Banned in Tasmania, still unrated by the Australian Classification Board. As the law changed soon after this incident, the films would presumably be allowed in Tasmania and be given ratings by the ACB today (whether X18+ or not).
1997	I Spit on Your Grave	Sexual violence	I Spit on Your Grave started in 1984 with an R18+ rating and passed a banning request in 1987, but was banned in 1997 due to "rising censorship of the late '90s". In 2004, the ACB decided to lift the ban.	Allowed uncut, rated R18+
1999	Romance	Explicit depictions of sexual activity and sexual violence	Initially refused classification, the ACB overturned the ban on appeal in 2000, with the film becoming a watershed in allowing actual sexual activity in the R18+ classification.	Allowed uncut, rated R18+
2002	Baise-moi	Explicit depiction of sexual violence (effect enhanced by actual sex)	The film was allowed at first, with an R18+ rating; in 2002, it was banned by the ACB.	Still banned.
2003	Ken Park	Sexual matters "in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults"	Copies of the film were distributed via the Internet, and illegal public screenings were held in Sydney and other capital cities. "None were charged with offences in relation to this widely publicised illegal activity, presumably because that would have caused even greater public criticism of censorship laws."	Still banned; however, the film has not been widely distributed worldwide
2010	A Serbian Film	High level sexual violence, explicit depictions of sexual activity, bestiality, necrophilia and pedophilia.	The ACB refused classification of the uncut version on November 26, 2010. It was awarded an R18+ in a 96-minute (PAL running time) censored version, but on review in 2011, it was also refused, banning all public showings and DVD sales.	Banned; censored version re-rated R18+, but was also refused classification on review.
2011	The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)	"Offensive" depictions of violence and high impact cruelty	Originally passed with an R18+ rating; banned on appeal after release (screening in capital cities and at festivals, even into the week prior to its ban on review). On news of its banning, the applicant, Monster Pictures, announced its plans to submit a modified version for classification. On December 14, 2011, Monster Pictures announced a "slightly trimmed" version was passed with an R18+ classification.	Banned uncut; allowed with 30 seconds cut in December 2011

Brazil

Dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1988)

During the dictatorship in Brazil, that last from 1964 to 1988, several films were banned under the Federal Law from Brazil 5536 from 1968. During several years a project was being developed to find and publish every document on censorship in films during the dictatorship. The project "Memory of Censorship in Brazilian Cinema" released in 2005 six thousand documents about 175 banned films during the dictatorship. And, finally, in 2007 they released documents for the last 269 films banned at that time.

After democratization in Brazil (1988–)

• 1993: Beyond Citizen Kane:

"On August 20, 2009, the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported that Rede Record bought the broadcasting rights of the documentary from Ellis for less than US$ 20,000."

"On February 14, 2011, the newspaper Jornal do Brasil (quoting the network's spokesperson) reported that Rede Record would be broadcasting the documentary in 2011, on a date yet to be specified."

• 1976: Di Cavalcanti:

This film (short) about Di Cavalcanti was banned due a lawsuit open by Di Cavalcanti daughter, Elizabeth, in 1979.

• 2011: A Serbian Film:

A Serbian Film had its release in Brazil liberated on August 5, 2011. The exception is Rio de Janeiro estate, where the film was forbidden due a lawsuit filed by the Democrats political party, who claim that the pedophilia scenes infringe the part of the Brazilian Constitution that protects children (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente). The case is still pending in court.

Burma

See also: Censorship in Burma

• 1970: Catch-22^{[citation needed]}
• 1983: Scarface^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: Sin City^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: United 93^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Rambo

Bhutan

• Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) - banned due to inappropriate religious content^{[citation needed]}
• Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - banned due to animal cruelty^{[citation needed]}

Cambodia

• 2005: Human or Ghost, for excessive sexual content^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: The Red Sense, for its Khmer Rouge material^{[citation needed]}

Canada

• 1918: Manitoba institutes a ban (since lifted) on all comedies.^{[citation needed]}
• 1931: Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia ban Little Caesar.
• 1937: Quebec bans The Life of Emile Zola.
• 1953: Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec ban The Wild One
• 1967: Nova Scotia censors ban Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? describing it as "obscene and blasphemous". After an appeal from the distributor and media coverage, the decision was overturned and the film was released with a "Restricted" rating
• 1970: The National Film Board of Canada blocks the release of Denys Arcand's controversial documentary On est au coton. An edited version is released in 1976, but the original unedited version was not released until 2004.
• 1970: The Alberta censors ban Women in Love due to nudity.
• 1972: Pink Flamingos is edited in several provinces, with Nova Scotia banning it outright until 1997.
• 1976: Blood Sucking Freaks is banned in Nova Scotia and Ontario.^{[citation needed]}
• 1977: In the Realm of the Senses is banned by all provinces except Quebec. In 1991, the ban was overturned by most provinces.^{[citation needed]}
• 1978: Pretty Baby is banned in Ontario by the Ontario Censor Board. The ban was repealed in 1995.
• 1979: Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens is banned in Nova Scotia.
• 1980: Caligula is banned by all provinces except Quebec, which gave it an 18+ rating. Edited versions were later passed.^{[citation needed]}
• 1980: The Tin Drum is edited, and later banned outright as child pornography by the Ontario Film Classification Board.
• 1983: I Spit on Your Grave was banned in Nova Scotia until 1998.
• 1985: Day of the Dead is banned in Ontario and the Maritimes, with a cut version passed in Ontario.^{[citation needed]}
• 1986: The New Brunswick Film Classification Board bans Blue Velvet.
• 1987: Bad Taste is banned in Nova Scotia; it is now available on DVD with an 18 rating.
• 1989-1993: The Death Scenes video series is banned in Nova Scotia.
• 1994: Exit to Eden is temporarily banned by the Saskatchewan Film and Video Classification Board.^{[citation needed]}
• 1997: Bastard Out of Carolina is banned by the Maritime Film Classification Board. This decision was later appealed, and a video release was allowed.^{[citation needed]}
• 2001: Fat Girl banned by the Ontario Film Review Board until 2003^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: Bumfights, a series of shot-on-tape reality productions, is banned in seven of the ten provinces and territories; the remaining three give it an R rating.^{[citation needed]}

At present, only films containing prohibited material (such as child pornography) or under court order (such as libel or copyright infringement) are banned in Canadian provinces.^{[citation needed]}

Chile

All three films were banned during General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship:

• 1974: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• 1982: Costa Gavras's Missing
• 1988: Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ.

People's Republic of China

Because only 20 imported films are granted permission to screen each year in China, only blockbuster or widely-known films are listed.

• 1959: Ben-Hur, for containing "propaganda of superstitious beliefs, namely Christianity." (Never given permission to screen)
• 1993: The Blue Kite, a Chinese film that was not only banned, but deemed so offensive that director Tian Zhuangzhuang received a 10-year ban from making films. It won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and Best Film at the Hawaii International Film Festival.
• 1993: Farewell My Concubine, a Chinese film that won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, was banned due to homosexual themes and negative portrayal of communism.
• 1997: Frozen (Pinyin: Jídù hánleng) is directed by Wang Xiaoshuai. The film was originally shot in 1994, but was banned by Chinese authorities and had to be smuggled out of the country.
• 2005: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, for its unflattering depictions of Chinese society (never given permission to screen)
• 2006: Scorsese's The Departed, for suggesting that the government intends to use nuclear weapons on Taiwan (a sensitive political issue – never given permission to screen)
• 2006: Death Note: Banned because people were making their own death notes and writing people's names down to imitate the show, which was deemed harmful, and was thought to incite anarchy and insubordination.
• 2007: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was banned because (according to Xinhua, the state news agency of the People's Republic of China) 10 minutes of footage containing Chow Yun-fat's portrayal of Singaporean pirate Sao Feng have been trimmed from versions of the film which may be shown in China. Chow is onscreen for 20 minutes in the uncensored theatrical release of the film. No official reason for the censorship was given, but unofficial sources within China have indicated that the character offered a negative and stereotypical portrayal of the Chinese people.
• 2010: Avatar, 2D versions were banned on January 23 because it was thought that its themes may lead audiences to think about forced removal, and may possibly incite violence. (The unedited DVD release is widely available in stores in China. Walmart stores in China use the films visuals to display television sets)
• 2011: In April 2011, several news sources reported that the Chinese Government had "banned" time travel "films". However, the original article in the New York Times stated that guidelines published on March 31, 2011 by the State Administration for Radio, Film & Television discouraged television dramas that showed characters traveling back in time.

See also: Censorship in the People's Republic of China, Film

Denmark

• In 1937, Ryska snuvan was banned.^{[citation needed]}

• 1956: The Ten Commandments was banned due to its controversial religious nature^{[citation needed]}

Finland

• 1940s: During World War II, Finland banned the films Mrs. Miniver and Johnny Eager in 1943.^{[citation needed]}

Other films banned in Finland include:

• 1930-1952: Bronenosets Potyomkin^{[citation needed]}
• 1933-1939: King Kong^{[citation needed]}
• 1947-1949: The Big Sleep^{[citation needed]}
• 1948: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein^{[citation needed]}
• 1956-1959: Rififi, for an extended sequence detailing how to crack a safe. A 1959 re-cut was allowed.^{[citation needed]}
• 1957: The Curse of Frankenstein^{[citation needed]} and its sequels The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)^{[citation needed]}, The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)^{[citation needed]}, and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969).^{[citation needed]}
• 1960: Peeping Tom^{[citation needed]}
• 1964-1987: The Manchurian Candidate^{[citation needed]}
• 1972: Dirty Harry for glamourizing police brutality.^{[citation needed]}
• 1981: Cruising^{[citation needed]}
• 1981: The Evil Dead^{[citation needed]}
• 1984: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• 1984-2001: Cannibal Holocaust^{[citation needed]}
• 2011: A Serbian Film was banned because of high impact sexual violence and gore. Stores like Citymarket and Anttila decided to confiscate all copies of the film in order to avoid law issues.

France

• 1925: Battleship Potemkin - Banned due to fears that it could inspire revolution.
• 1953: Les statues meurent aussi, a short film by Alain Resnais was banned. Its theme was that Western civilization is responsible for the decline of African art. The film was seen at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953, but subsequently banned by the French censor.
• Paths of Glory was never banned but was not distributed by United Artists, which feared reactions and boycotts from army supporters. The film saw its first French release in 1975, to public acclaim.^{[citation needed]}
• 1960: Le Petit Soldat was banned on political grounds; the ban was lifted in 1963 with re-editing.
• 1966: The Battle of Algiers was banned for five years, due to the politically-sensitive nature of a film that depicted the Algerian War.^{[citation needed]}

Germany

Year	Name	Reason	Citation
1919	Different from the Others	Banned due to homosexual themes
1933	Battleship Potemkin	Banned due to fears it could inspire Marxism.
1936	The Bohemian Girl	This Laurel & Hardy film was banned in Nazi Germany, because it depicted gypsies.
2011	Valley of the Wolves: Palestine	This film was banned in Germany, because of FSK's initial concerns over the film's perceived anti-Israeli and anti-American overtones.

West Germany

• 1974: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Greece

• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust^{[citation needed]}

Hong Kong

• 1962: Lolita
• 1967: The Battle of Algiers
• 1980: The Coldest Winter in Peking
• 1981: If I Were for Real

Hungary

• 1948 - Ének a búzamezőkről (Song of the Wheat Fields): banned for political reasons^{[citation needed]}
• 1956 - Keserű igazság (Bitter Truth) and Az eltüsszentett birodalom: both banned for political reasons^{[citation needed]}
• 1957 - A nagyrozsdási eset: banned for political reasons^{[citation needed]}
• 1969 - A tanú (The Witness): banned for political reasons^{[citation needed]}
• 1974 - Bástyasétány '74: banned for political reasons^{[citation needed]}
• 1983 - Álombrigád (Dream Brigade): banned for political reasons^{[citation needed]}

Iceland

Year	Name	Reason	Citation
1984	Friday the 13th	Banned due to high-impact violence and gore	[citation needed]
1984	Cannibal Holocaust	Banned due to high-impact violence and animal cruelty	[citation needed]
1985–1999	The Texas Chain Saw Massacre	Banned due to high-impact violence and cruelty; a censored version was later released.
1986	To All a Good Night	Banned due to high-impact violence	[citation needed]
1987	Re-Animator	Banned due to high-impact violence	[citation needed]
1987	Amazonia	Banned due to high-impact violence	[citation needed]
1990	Halloween 5	Banned due to high-impact violence	[citation needed]
1996	Halloween 6	Banned due to high-impact violence	[citation needed]

India

• 1959 - Neel Akasher Neechey was banned for two years for overt political overtones; it showed the troubles faced by an immigrant Chinese wage laborer in 1930s Calcutta.
• 1963 - Nine Hours to Rama was banned for depicting the psychological motivations of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.^{[citation needed]}
• 1970 - Kissa Kursi Ka was banned for political reasons.^{[citation needed]}
• 1971 - Sikkim was banned for showing Chogyal-ruled Sikkim as a sovereign state. The ban was lifted in September 2010.
• 1984 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was banned for its "racist portrayal of Indians and overt imperialistic tendencies".^{[citation needed]}
• 1991 - Kutrapathirikkai was banned for 15 years for portraying the events that followed Rajiv Gandhi's death. Was proclaimed to be a pro-LTTE film, justifying the LTTE's activities. However, the film was censored and released in 2007 after many cuts.^{[citation needed]}
• 1996 - Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love Banned due to Lesbian scenes. Cut version is available.^{[citation needed]}
• 1996 - Fire On its opening day in India, some film theaters were attacked by Hindu fundamentalists; the film was banned for a period, but theater screenings resumed later.
• 2003 - Paanch sexual content, violence and no social message
• 2005 - Water This movie was banned in India as well as in Oscars for some reasons.
• Bandit Queen was banned for the reason of adult content.

Andhra Pradesh

• 2006 - The Da Vinci Code
• 2011 - Khankimagi (Reservation)

Goa

• 2006 - The Da Vinci Code

Gujarat

• 2006 - Fanaa
• 2007 - Parzania

Nagaland

• 2006 - The Da Vinci Code

Punjab

• 2011 - Arakshan (Reservation),the ban was later revoked.

Tamil Nadu

• 1987 - Ore Oru Gramathile
• 2006 - The Da Vinci Code
• 2011 - Dam 999

Uttar Pradesh

• 2011 - Arakshan (Reservation)

West Bengal

• 1992 - City of Joy^{[citation needed]}

Indonesia

• 1984: The Year of Living Dangerously: an Australian film about Jakarta under Sukarno's rule in 1965. It was unbanned in 1999.
• 1994: Schindler's List: a film that is sympathetic to the Jewish cause
• 1994: True Lies: an action film that was banned for featuring Muslim terrorists^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: Long Road to Heaven: an Indonesian film about the 2002 Bali bombings was banned on the island of Bali, as local politicians worried that the film might promote hatred and intolerance.
• 2009: Balibo: an Australian film based on the story of the Balibo Five, a group of journalists killed during the 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor

Iran

All films depicting anything deemed contrary to Islamic morals are banned outright in Iran.

• 1956: The King & I^{[citation needed]}
• 1968: Oliver!^{[citation needed]}
• 1977: Saturday Night Fever^{[citation needed]}
• 1980: Cannibal Holocaust, Cruising^{[citation needed]}
• 1982: The Dark Crystal (ceremonial imagery)^{[citation needed]}
• 1983: Scarface^{[citation needed]}
• 1989: Pet Sematary^{[citation needed]}, Glory^{[citation needed]}, and Back to the Future Part II^{[citation needed]} (due to a scene where Ayatollah Khomeini is burning in hell; a cut version was later released)
• 1990: Henry & June^{[citation needed]}
• 1993: Schindler's List^{[citation needed]}
• 1994: The Naked Gun^{[citation needed]}
• 1995: Showgirls^{[citation needed]}
• 1997: Boogie Nights^{[citation needed]}, Liar Liar (shows that adultery is legal)^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut^{[citation needed]}; Three Kings^{[citation needed]} and Anna and the King^{[citation needed]}
• 2001: Zoolander (seen as supporting gay rights)^{[citation needed]}
• 2002: Pinocchio^{[citation needed]} and Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heavens Door^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Bruce Almighty^{[citation needed]} and The Matrix Revolutions^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: Fahrenheit 9/11^{[citation needed]}, Catwoman^{[citation needed]}, and The Passion of the Christ^{[citation needed]}, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle^{[citation needed]}, Marmoulak (shown for two weeks but stopped showing due to the main character disguising as a mullah)^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: The 40-Year-Old Virgin^{[citation needed]}, Sin City^{[citation needed]} and Brokeback Mountain^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: The Da Vinci Code^{[citation needed]}, Alexander^{[citation needed]}, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby^{[citation needed]}, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan^{[citation needed]}, and Hostel^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: The Kingdom^{[citation needed]}, 300 and Hostel Part II^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Meet the Spartans^{[citation needed]}, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay^{[citation needed]}, You Don't Mess with the Zohan^{[citation needed]}
• 2009: The Last House on the Left^{[citation needed]}

Iraq

• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was banned for its depiction of Saddam Hussein as the homosexual lover of Satan. South Park is also unavailable on television.^{[citation needed]}
• Fahrenheit 9/11^{[citation needed]} (due to a scene where Saddam Hussein is burning in hell)

Ireland

• 1931: Monkey Business was banned because censors feared it would encourage anarchic tendencies. Ban lifted 2000^{[citation needed]}
• 1943: The Outlaw
• 1945: Mildred Pierce
• 1945: Brief Encounter by Noel Coward was banned, as it was considered too permissive of adultery.
• 1946: The Big Sleep
• 1950: Outrage
• 1967: Ulysses, based on the book by James Joyce - Ban lifted September 2000^{[citation needed]}
• 1968: Rocky Road to Dublin (documentary which, in part, questioned Irish censorship) - ban lifted in 2003^{[citation needed]}
• 1971: A Clockwork Orange - ban lifted in 2000
• 1979: Monty Python's Life of Brian - ban lifted in 1987
• 1983: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - ban lifted in 1990
• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust - ban lifted in 2006^{[citation needed]}
• 1987: Personal Services
• 1989: Meet the Feebles - still banned, as of 2009^{[citation needed]}
• 1991: Riki-Oh - ban lifted in 2000^{[citation needed]}
• 1994: Natural Born Killers - ban lifted^{[citation needed]}
• 1996: From Dusk till Dawn - ban lifted in 2000^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: Romance - still banned^{[citation needed]}
• 2000: Baise-moi - unbanned^{[citation needed]}
• 2010: I Spit on Your Grave - The re-release of the 1978 film was banned.

Due to the small size of the Republic of Ireland, films banned by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) were rarely even submitted for release in Ireland, due to the high costs of promotion and distribution for such a small audience. Similarly, BBFC cuts are often left in DVD releases, due to the difficulties in separating the two film supplies.

This changed in 2000; many of these films have since been unbanned and rated anywhere from PG to 18. During the review process it was decided that no more films would be banned for either theatre or video release, but some bans are still in place. Banned films can still be viewed at private members' clubs with 18+ age limits.

Italy

Although there is a censorship board run, very few films are not certified for release.

• Last Tango in Paris was banned from 1972 to 1986.
• Li chiamarono... briganti! was suspended from the cinemas and it is not available on VHS and DVD. For some critics it was banned as being an uncomfortable side of the Italian unification.

Israel

All German films were banned from 1956 until 1967.

• 1957: The Girl in the Kremlin was banned because it may have harmed Israel's diplomatic relations with Moscow.
• 1957: China Gate was banned in Israel for indulging in excessive cruelty. The Israeli film censorship board indicated the film depicted Chinese and Russian soldiers as "monsters".
• 1965: Goldfinger played for six weeks before the Nazi past of Gert Fröbe, who played the title villain, was disclosed; it was unbanned after a few months after a man went to the Israeli Embassy in Vienna and told staff that Fröbe hid him and his mother from the Nazis (which may have saved their lives).
• 1973: Hitler: The Last Ten Days was banned in a unanimous decision by the censorship board that Alec Guinness's Hitler was represented in too human a light.
• 1988: Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ was banned on the grounds that it could offend Christian believers in the Holy Land.
• 2002: Jenin, Jenin was banned by the Israeli Film Ratings Board on the premise that it was libelous and might offend the public; the Supreme Court of Israel later overturned the decision.

Japan

Despite Japan's strict censorship policy on nudity (see Pornography in Japan), very few films are banned there.^{[citation needed]}

Those that are banned are usually put under self-imposed studio bans by the companies that produced them.^{[citation needed]}

• 1945: The Akira Kurosawa-directed film The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail was temporarily banned by the SCAP because it portrayed feudalism in a positive light.^{[citation needed]}
• 1955: The Toho production Half Human, directed by Ishirō Honda, was put under a self-imposed ban by Toho after it was feared that the film would be seen as a degrading portrayal of Japan's Ainu minority. The film was never released on laserdisc or DVD, even though there were several home video releases and to this day the only way to see it is through its heavily-edited US version.^{[citation needed]}
• 1958: Varan the Unbelievable was put under a self-imposed studio ban by Toho for similar reasons as Half Human's, but was finally released in the 1980s on VHS and laserdisc (with a few lines of reportedly racist dialogue removed from the film).^{[citation needed]}
• 1969: Teruo Ishii's exploitation flick Horrors of Malformed Men was put under a studio ban by Toei, due to the film's offensive elements. With the film unavailable in any format in Japan, the only way to see it is through the occasional screening and the 2007 USA DVD release.^{[citation needed]}
• 1974: Toho placed another one of its films (Prophecies of Nostradamus, an apocalyptic disaster film) under a ban, after a group of hibakusha (nuclear radiation survivors) saw the film and were offended by sequences showing a research party being attacked by radioactive cannibals and a pair of horribly deformed post-apocalyptic mutants fighting over a worm. After airing the film uncut on television in 1980, Toho withdrew the film from circulation entirely. It attempted to release the film on VHS in the late 1980s but was stopped due to protests. The only way to see the film is through the film's US version, The Last Days of Planet Earth, or through a grey market copy of the uncut version with the time code at the top of the screen.^{[citation needed]}

Kazakhstan

• 2005: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Since Borat takes a satirical view of Kazakh culture and government, the Kazakh government requested the regional distributor, Gemini Films, not to release the film, a decision Gemini complied with.^{[citation needed]}

Kuwait

• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: Three Kings^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: Fahrenheit 9/11
• 2005: The 40-Year-Old Virgin^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: The Kingdom^{[citation needed]}

Lebanon

• 2007: Persepolis was initially banned in Lebanon after some clerics found it to be "offensive to Iran and Islam." The ban was later revoked after an outcry in Lebanese intellectual and political circles.
• 2008: You Don't Mess with the Zohan^{[citation needed]}
• 2009: Waltz with Bashir^{[citation needed]}

Malaysia

• 1936: The Bohemian Girl was banned due to its Roma theme. It was passed during the '90s with a VCD release from Warner Malaysia Video.^{[citation needed]}
• 1946: The Big Sleep was banned in Malaysia, but passed in 1999 by a VCD release and a delayed DVD release from Warner Malaysia Video.^{[citation needed]}
• 1956: The King and I was banned when Malaysians were offended by this film. It was passed in 2005 by a VCD release and a DVD release from Fox Malaysia.^{[citation needed]}
• 1956: The Ten Commandments was banned by Paramount Malaysia (now United International Pictures) due to religious content.^{[citation needed]}
• 1964: 491 was banned due to a homosexual rape scene; a censored version was later released.^{[citation needed]}
• 1971: A Clockwork Orange was banned, due to its explicit sexual and violent content. A censored version was later released on DVD after several years.^{[citation needed]}
• 1971: The Last House on the Left - passed for a VCD release by Movie Master in the late 1990s^{[citation needed]}
• 1973: The Exorcist
• 1975: Jaws - passed for a VCD release and a long-delayed DVD release by Movie Master^{[citation needed]}
• 1975: Monty Python and the Holy Grail^{[citation needed]}
• 1979: Monty Python's Life of Brian^{[citation needed]}
• 1983: Scarface^{[citation needed]}
• 1983: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life^{[citation needed]}
• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust
• 1986: Platoon was banned, due to vulgar language and violence.
• 1989: Pet Sematary^{[citation needed]}
• 1992: The Bodyguard - banned, due to high-impact violence and cruelty
• 1993: Schindler's List^{[citation needed]} - never released in cinemas; passed in 2004 for DVD release by Berjaya HVN^{[citation needed]}
• 1994: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)^{[citation needed]} - passed in 2001 by a VHS and DVD release by Berjaya HVN^{[citation needed]}
• 1995: Pirahna - banned, due to high-impact violence and cruelty
• 1995: Demon Knight^{[citation needed]}
• 1995: Showgirls^{[citation needed]}
• 1996: Beavis & Butthead Do America^{[citation needed]}
• 1996: Last Man Standing^{[citation needed]}
• 1997: Orgazmo
• 1997: Boogie Nights
• 1997: Blade^{[citation needed]} - never released in cinemas, passed for a VCD release and a delayed DVD release by Movie Master^{[citation needed]}
• 1998: The Prince of Egypt^{[citation needed]} - never released in cinemas, passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN^{[citation needed]}
• 1998: Saving Private Ryan^{[citation needed]} - never released in cinemas, passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN^{[citation needed]}
• 1998: Barney's Great Adventure was banned due to the country finding this film to be unacceptable for children to watch. It is unknown if it was passed on for a VCD or DVD release.
• 1999: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: Dogma
• 2000: Final Destination^{[citation needed]}
• 2000: But I'm a Cheerleader^{[citation needed]}
• 2001: Fiza^{[citation needed]}
• 2001: Ichi the Killer^{[citation needed]}
• 2001: Zoolander
• 2002: Auto Focus^{[citation needed]} - passed for VCD release from MediaMax.com^{[citation needed]}
• 2002: Queen of the Damned^{[citation needed]}
• 2002: 40 Days and 40 Nights
• 2002: Pinocchio (2002)^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Bruce Almighty - passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Daredevil (2003)^{[citation needed]} - passed for VCD and DVD release^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Homerun^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Final Destination 2^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Freddy vs. Jason^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Underworld (2003)^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Kill Bill: Vol. 1^{[citation needed]} - never released in cinemas, passed for DVD release by Berjaya HVN^{[citation needed]}
• 2003: Thirteen^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: The Girl Next Door (2004)
• 2004: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle^{[citation needed]} - never released in cinemas, passed for DVD release by Berjaya HVN^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: The Passion of the Christ - prohibited for non-Christian viewers^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: Sideways^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: Team America: World Police^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: Saw - banned, due to high-impact violence and cruelty
• 2004: Alfie (2004)^{[citation needed]} - never released in cinemas, passed for DVD release by Berjaya HVN^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: Sin City^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: Hustle & Flow^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: The 40-Year-Old Virgin
• 2005: Saw II - banned, due to high-impact violence and cruelty
• 2005: Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: Inside Deep Throat
• 2005: Hard Candy^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: Hostel
• 2005: Rent^{[citation needed]} - was released straight to DVD/VCD by Mediamax^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: Brokeback Mountain
• 2006: Glory Road
• 2006: See No Evil^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: Severance Movie was allowed in theaters as a censored version, but the bear trap scene was removed. The video version was initially banned and had no dvd release.
• 2006: United 93^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: Final Destination 3^{[citation needed]} - Released in Cinemas as censored version
• 2006: How to Eat Fried Worms^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: Saw III
• 2006: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
• 2007: Alpha Dog
• 2007: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: Hostel: Part II
• 2007: Dead Silence^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: Superbad^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: Death Sentence (2007)^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: Halloween (2007)^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: Saw IV^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: Anaconda 3: Offspring - banned, due to high-impact violence and cruelty
• 2008: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Waltz With Bashir^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Wanted^{[citation needed]} - passed by a release by Berjaya HVN and United International Pictures Malaysia^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Step Brothers^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Pineapple Express^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Zack and Miri Make a Porno^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Saw V^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Anaconda 4: Trail Of Blood - banned, due to high-impact violence and cruelty
• 2008: Role Models^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: RocknRolla^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Repo! The Genetic Opera^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Gran Torino^{[citation needed]} - passed and released on Home Video by the Censorship board of Malaysia
• 2009: Bruno^{[citation needed]}
• 2009: Halloween 2 (2009)^{[citation needed]}
• 2009: Saw VI (2009)^{[citation needed]}
• 2010: Rumah Dara aka Macabre
• 2010: Piranha 3D - Passed with a heavily censored version (six minutes removed) in 2010, due to sexual and nude content only; violent content remains unchanged
• 2011: No Strings Attached - Passed with a heavily censored version (seven minutes censored) in 2011, due to sexual and nude content

Morocco

• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust^{[citation needed]}
• 1995: Showgirls^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: Team America: World Police^{[citation needed]}

The Netherlands

• 1932: Scram On its initial cinematic release in the Netherlands this Laurel & Hardy film was banned by Christian moral watchdogs, who claimed that the scene where the duo sat on a bed with a woman to whom they weren't married was "indecent". Today the film is not banned.
• 2010: Maladolescenza On 25 March 2010 the Dutch court of Alkmaar has classified several scenes in the movie being child pornography, which is illegal in the Netherlands. That means that possession, distribution, viewing and knowingly gaining access to the movie is not allowed.

New Zealand

• 1973 - Last Tango in Paris
• 1980 - Cannibal Holocaust (also refused release in 2006)
• 1981 - Mad Max (VHS release was later approved)
• 2004 - Puni Puni Poemy
• 2005 - Bumfights: Cause for Concern, Bumfights 2: Bumlife
• 2007 - Hostel: Part II (excisions recommended but not initially made; later released on DVD in April 2008 with offending material cut)
• 2011 - I Spit on Your Grave, Megan Is Missing

Nigeria

• 2009 - District 9. Banned due to accusations of being xenophobic and showing racism towards Nigerians.

North Korea

• 2009: 2012. Banned because the year 2012 coincides with Kim Il Sung's 100th birthday. The year had also been designated "the year for opening the grand gates to becoming a rising superpower."

Norway

Year	Name	Reason	Citation
1964–1971	491	Banned due to homosexual themes; a censored version was later released.
1974 - ?	The Texas Chain Saw Massacre	No longer banned
1977–2003	Suspiria	Unknown (ban lifted)	[citation needed]
1980–2008	Friday the 13th	Banned due to high-impact violence and extreme cruelty/torture; a censored version is later released.	[citation needed]
1979–1980	Monty Python's Life of Brian	Banned due to offensive jokes to religious people (ban later lifted).
1984–2005	Cannibal Holocaust	Banned due to high-impact violence and animal cruelty; a censored version was later released.	[citation needed]
1990–2003	Robocop 2	Banned due to high-impact violence.	[citation needed]
1998	Kite	Banned due to high-impact violence, cruelty and child pornography; a censored version was later released.	[citation needed]
2009	Ichi the Killer	Banned due to high-impact violence and cruelty.	[citation needed]
2011	A Serbian Film	Banned due to sexual representation of children and extreme violence.	[citation needed]

Oman

• 1979: Monty Python's Life of Brian^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: Saw^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: Basic Instinct 2^{[citation needed]}

Philippines

• 1977: Hubad na Bayani: Depiction of human-rights abuses during the martial-law era
• 1994: Natural Born Killers Banned for extreme violence.
• 2000: Toro/Live Show: Banned for explicit sexual content

Poland

• 1982-1989: Interrogation (1982) (Przesluchanie)^{[citation needed]}, a prison film depicting the corrupt interrogation tactics of the Stalinist regime in post-World War II Poland. The film has gained attention for being one of the most controversial (but important) Polish films ever made.
• 1982-1987: Blind Chance, like many of Kieslowski's films, was banned for politically sensitive themes.^{[citation needed]}
• 1997: Witajcie w życiu (Welcome to the Life), a documentary film by Henryk Dederko about Amway in Poland, was banned after the Polish office of the Amway Corporation obtained an injunction against the film; they claimed it was libelous.^{[citation needed]}

Portugal

• 1970: Catch-22 was banned until 1974 for the scene showing Capt. Yossarian naked in a tree.^{[citation needed]}
• 1972: Last Tango in Paris was banned for its strong sexual content (unbanned in 1974).

Russia

• 2006: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Banned as "offensive" (possibly because of Russia's close relationship with Kazakhstan).

Samoa

• 2006: The Da Vinci Code (see Censorship in Samoa for details)
• 2009: Milk (see Censorship in Samoa for details)
• 2009: National Lampoon's Van Wilder: Freshman Year
• 2009: The Cell 2

Saudi Arabia

• 1994: True Lies
• 2007: The Kingdom

Singapore

• 1971: A Clockwork Orange was banned for over 30 years, before an attempt at release was made in 2006. However, the ban was not lifted when the submission for a M18 rating was rejected. A Clockwork Orange was premiered on 28 October 2011, as part of the Perspectives Film Festival. The film was shown uncut with an R21 rating.
• 1973: The Exorcist
• 1973: Last Tango in Paris
• 1974: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was prohibited from release on the island since the 1970s.
• 1979: Monty Python's Life of Brian contains "inappropriate" religious content, which led the film to be banned.^{[citation needed]}
• 1980: Cannibal Holocaust was banned outright for its extreme violence.^{[citation needed]}
• 1981: The Evil Dead has been banned since its release in 1981; authorities disallowed it for "excessive graphic violence and gore".^{[citation needed]}
• 1986: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was categorised as banned by the authority. No submission for re-rating was ever made.^{[citation needed]}
• 1988: The Last Temptation of Christ was never allowed to be screened or released in video formats to the public, for its controversial religious content.^{[citation needed]}
• 1995: Lie Down with Dogs was banned for strong sexuality.^{[citation needed]}
• 1998: A Night on the Water was banned for strong sexuality.
• 1999: The film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut shared the same fate with its banned television series.^{[citation needed]}
• 2001: Zoolander
• 2003: 15 was initially banned, and the Singapore board of censors later ruled that the film should be rated; R(A) it made 27 cuts to the film.^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: A Dirty Shame was banned for its crude humour and sexuality.^{[citation needed]}
• 2004: Formula 17 was banned because it "portrayed homosexuality as normal, a natural progression of society."
• 2005: Hostel was banned for extreme-impact violence, high-impact gore, cruelty and racism.^{[citation needed]}
• 2005: Singapore Rebel was banned for being a political film, which is not allowed in Singapore. In 2009 the film was reviewed by the Political Films Consultative Committee (PFCC) and unbanned, with an M18 rating.
• 2006: Shortbus was banned for its explicit sexual content.^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: The film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was banned for extreme nudity during the fight in the hotel scene. It was cut off during its screening.^{[citation needed]}
• 2007: Zahari's 17 Years was banned because, according to the Government of Singapore, it is "against public interests".
• 2010: Dr Lim Hock Siew was banned due to similar reasons for the film Zahari's 17 Years

Solomon Islands

• 2006: The Da Vinci Code. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare stated that the film "undermines the very roots of Christianity in Solomon Islands."

South Africa

• 1978: Up in Smoke was banned because the South African censor board feared it might inspire youth to take up marijuana smoking.^{[citation needed]}
• 1979: Monty Python's Life of Brian was banned because of offensive jokes about religion.^{[citation needed]}
• 1980: Cruising was banned because of homosexual themes.^{[citation needed]}
• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust was seized by customs (specific year is unknown at this time). It was given an XX rating, which prevented it from being sold in the country. It is now rated 18 for a cut version (the uncut version is still banned).^{[citation needed]}
• 1987: Cry Freedom was seized by customs upon its initial release; film was later circulated after 1994 when Nelson Mandela was elected president.
• 1990: Henry & June^{[citation needed]}
• 1991: Whore^{[citation needed]}
• 1995: Showgirls^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: Family Guy

During the Apartheid regime, films depicting interracial couples were banned and/or censored for content - the James Bond film Live and Let Die had a love scene which was censored by the South African government.

Soviet Union

• 1967: Komissar Re-released in the late 1980s, winning nine awards (including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival)^{[citation needed]}
• 1971: Proverka na dorogakh released in 1986

It should be noted that in Soviet Union most foreign movies never had been shown thus avoiding the need for banning.

South Korea

• 1925-1992: The Battleship Potemkin^{[citation needed]}
• 1971: A Clockwork Orange
• 1973: Last Tango in Paris
• 1973: Three Days of the Condor^{[citation needed]}
• During President Park Chung-hee's regime, the import of Apocalypse Now was on hold because of its anti-war theme.
• 1975-1981: South Korean director Kim Ki-young's Ban Geum-ryeon, banned for six years, was released with 40 minutes cut.
• 1996: Scream^{[citation needed]}

Bans made prior to 1980 have all been lifted.^{[citation needed]} According to the Internet Movie Database, there are no currently-banned films in South Korea.

Spain

• 1932: Las Hurdes
• 1939-1976: The Battleship Potemkin was banned.^{[citation needed]}
• 1940-1976: The Great Dictator was banned for its portrayal of Fascism.^{[citation needed]}
• 1957-1986: Paths of Glory was banned by General Francisco Franco's dictatorship for its anti-military message. It was released in 1986, 11 years after Franco's death.^{[citation needed]}
• 1972: Last Tango in Paris was banned.^{[citation needed]}
• 2009: Saw VI was rated X and thus banned from regular, non-adult cinemas.
• 2010: A Serbian Film

Sri Lanka

• 1984-2007: Cannibal Holocaust^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut The television show South Park is banned outright.^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: The Da Vinci Code. Banned by presidential order of Mahinda Rajapakse; the decision was made after his wife (a converted Catholic) influenced him to do so.
• 2006: Aksharaya (Letter of Fire) was banned for dealing with issues of incest, murder, and rape.

Sweden

Year	Name	Reason	Citation
1922–1972	Nosferatu	Banned due to high impact scary violence and cruelty. A censored version was later released.	[citation needed]
1968	Django	Banned due to high impact violence and cruelty.	[citation needed]
1974–2001	The Texas Chain Saw Massacre	Banned due to high gore violence and cruelty.
1981–2005	Mad Max	Banned due to high impact violence and cruelty.	[citation needed]
1981	The Burning	Banned due to high impact scary violence and cruelty for the VHS market.
1983	Hell of the living dead	Released uncut on DVD in the mid-2000s
1984–2005	Tenebre	High impact scary violence. Re-released in a uncut version in 2005
1984–1999	Cannibal Holocaust	High impact violence and animal cruelty. A censored version has since been classified "15". However, bootleg copies for the uncut version are available and since the beginning of the 2000s it has been legal uncut in Sweden.	[citation needed]
1985	Return of the living dead	Although status remains unclear(?) the first two sequels have been been released on DVD
1997	Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation	High impact scary violence and cruelty. Later released on DVD by Sony pictures

Thailand

• 1946: Anna and the King of Siam for its Orientalist depiction of Thai culture.^{[citation needed]}
• 1956: The King and I^{[citation needed]}
• 1977: Tongpan, unbanned^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: Anna and the King
• 2007: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane
• 2007: Halloween
• 2008: Frontier(s)
• 2008: Funny Games
• 2009: Zack and Miri Make a Porno was banned by the Ministry of Culture due to sexual content (showing how to make their own pornographic video; teens may try to mimic).
• 2010: Saw VI

Trinidad and Tobago

• 1956: The King & I^{[citation needed]}
• 1980: The Gods Must Be Crazy^{[citation needed]}
• 1983: Scarface^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: Anna and the King^{[citation needed]}
• 1999: Third World Cop^{[citation needed]}

Tunisia

• 2007: 300^{[citation needed]}

Turkey

• 1922-2006: Nosferatu was banned due to its portrayal of extreme blood and gore.^{[citation needed]}
• 1972-2000: Pink Flamingos was banned for extreme nudity.^{[citation needed]}
• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust was banned due to the killing of animals.^{[citation needed]}

Ukraine

• Hostel (2006)
• Hostel: Part II (2007)
• Land of the Dead (2006)
• Bruno (2009)
• Saw VI (2009)
• My iz budushchego 2 (We Are from the Future 2) (2010)

United Arab Emirates

• 2006-2009: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan^{[citation needed]} The reason is unknown; the ban was lifted in 2009. It was not released in cinemas, but on DVD.
• 2008: You Don't Mess with the Zohan^{[citation needed]}; Jewish/Mossad themes.
• 2009: Bruno^{[citation needed]} Banned for its homosexual themes.
• 2010: Lamhaa. It was banned because of its "objectionable content"; it did not receive a clearance certificate from the UAE Censors Board and was pulled from all UAE cinemas. This is the first Bollywood film to be banned in the UAE.

United Kingdom

Year	Name	Details	Citation
1925–1954	Battleship Potemkin	Banned due to "inflammatory subtitles and Bolshevist Propaganda". Unbanned after the death of Joseph Stalin.
1932–1963	Freaks	Rejected by British censors and banned. It was again rejected for a cinema rating certificate in 1952. Available from 1963 - passed with an X rating.
1954–1967	The Wild One	Banned from distribution in the United Kingdom until 1967.
1960–1968	Black Sunday	Mario Bava's film was banned due to its violent content until 1968.
1968–2002	The Trip	Roger Corman's film was banned due to its glorification of LSD. It was later unbanned, but not released in Britain until 2002.
1972–2002	The Last House on the Left	Banned by the BBFC until 2002 and not passed uncut until 2008. Released on home video in 1982, when the market was unregulated, but banned following the Video Recordings Act 1984.
1973–present	Cocksucker Blues	Documentary of the Rolling Stones' 1972 North American Tour, chronicling its actual drug use and sex. The film is under a court order which forbids it from being shown unless director Robert Frank is physically present. This ruling stems from the conflict that arose when the band, who had commissioned the film, decided that its content was inappropriate and potentially embarrassing, and didn't want it shown. Frank felt otherwise — hence the ruling.	[citation needed]
1986–1999	The Exorcist	The theatrical version was passed, uncut, by the BBFC in 1974 and has always been legal. The home video of the film was released in 1979. The home video was not banned per se, but Warner decided not to submit the film for classification for a few years following the video nasty crisis and the implementation of the Video Recordings Act 1984 in 1986. It was not until 1999 that the video was finally submitted and passed, uncut, with an 18 rating.
1973–2000	A Clockwork Orange	Not banned as such but withdrawn two years after its release by its own director, Stanley Kubrick. This was not because of the copycat violence allegedly inspired by the film, as commonly believed. Kubrick received death threats against his family, and arranged to withdraw the film from UK cinemas. It was not allowed to be shown again in the United Kingdom until after his death. Throughout the decades the film acquired a mythical status in the country, until Kubrick died in 1999 and the ban was finally lifted.
1974–1999	The Texas Chain Saw Massacre	Banned; it was passed uncut in 1999.
1975–2003	Il paese del sesso selvaggio	Umberto Lenzi's film was banned. Passed in 2003
1989–2012	Visions of Ecstasy	Banned under blasphemy laws (which were repealed in 2008), it is the only film ever to be banned in the UK due to blasphemy. Following a resubmission in 2011, it was passed uncu with an 18 certificate.
1990–2004	Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III	Banned; passed uncut in 2004
1993–present	Mikey	Rejected by the BBFC for a certificate in 1996; a trailer had been previously classified 18 four years before. In the aftermath of the widely-publicised murder of James Bulger, the BBFC (on the guidance of three child psychiatrists) banned the film because it features a child as a killer (which they believed might cause children who watched it to act violently).
2009–present	Grotesque	Banned due to a high level of sexual torture.
2011	The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)	Originally banned due to sexual violence and potential obscenity. This film was given an official age certificate of 18 by the BBFC on 6 October 2011 while the distributors agreed to make 32 cuts before its release.

• 1984 - The infamous video nasty list is created to protect against obscenity. Films on this list were banned and distributors of said films were liable to be prosecuted (some of the films were banned before the list was made). This list banned 74 films at one point in the mid-1980s; the list was eventually trimmed down, and only 39 films were successfully prosecuted. Most of the films (even of the 39 successfully prosecuted) have now been approved by the BBFC, cut or uncut (see Video Recordings Act 1984).

United States

The United States has no federal agency charged with either permitting or restricting the exhibition of motion pictures. Most instances of films being banned are via ordinances or proclamations by city or state governments. Some are instances of films being judicially found to be of an obscene nature and subject to specific laws against such material (i.e., child pornography). Such findings are usually only legally binding in the jurisdiction of the court making such a ruling.

The established film industry in the United States began a form of self-censorship in the late 1920s called the Motion Picture Production Code to forestall any possible formation of a federal censoring agency. In 1968, the Production Code was superseded by the MPAA film rating system.

• 1894: Dorlita in the Passion Dance Banned in New Jersey after use in peepshows. Russell Kick quotes the work Censorship as saying it "was probably the first [film] to be banned in the United States."
• 1906: Reenactment of the Massacre at Wounded Knee by Buffalo Bill, was banned due to a sympathetic portrayal of the Native Americans in the film.
• 1915: The Birth of a Nation banned in several American cities, including Chicago, Las Vegas, Denver, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, and the states of Ohio, Kansas, and West Virginia, as well as "dozens" of other jurisdictions. Unbanned in 1916 outside of Kansas.
• 1917: The film Birth Control, produced by and starring Margaret Sanger banned, with the New York Court of Appeals holding that a film on family planning work may be censored "in the interest of morality, decency, and public safety and welfare".
• 1932: Scarface (1932) - banned in 5 states and 5 other cities due to "glorification of crime"
• 1941: Two-Faced Woman - This film's theme (adultery) caused it to be banned in New York City, among other places.
• 1945: Scarlet Street banned in New York City, according to Jan Morris' book Manhattan '45.^{[citation needed]}
• 1953: The Moon Is Blue banned in Jersey City, New Jersey as "indecent and obscene."
• 1956: The Vanishing Prairie, a 1954 Walt Disney documentary, was banned in New York because it showed a buffalo giving birth. The ban was lifted after a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union.
• 1961: Victim banned in many American cities due to language.
• 1966 - 1968: Viva Maria! banned in Dallas for sexual and anti-Catholic content, prior to the United States Supreme Court striking down the ban and limiting the ability of municipalities to ban films for adults in Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas.
• 1968 - 1991: Titicut Follies is barred from distribution to the general public by court order because the film was considered a violation of the privacy of the prison inmates it filmed.
• 1969: I Am Curious (Yellow) is banned as pornography. After three court cases, it was unbanned when the anti-obscenity laws concerning films was overturned.
• 1979: Monty Python's Life of Brian was banned in several towns for showing controversial themes about Christianity.
• 1988: The Last Temptation of Christ banned in Savannah when city leaders sent a petition to Universal Studios requesting a ban. However, opened in Savannah on September 23, 1988, 6 weeks after national and worldwide debut.^{[citation needed]}
• 1990: Numerous films, including Pink Flamingos, fell victim to a broad obscenity sting in Central Florida resulting in de facto bans within Orange County for most, if not all, of the films involved.
• 1997: The Tin Drum was briefly banned in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, when a district court judge deemed the film child pornography. The shot in question depicted a minor performing oral sex. The verdict was overturned on appeal.
• 2002 - 2007: The Profit, a film that borrows elements of the life of L. Ron Hubbard, was prevented from release when the Church of Scientology claimed the film could taint the jury pool in the wrongful death trial of former member Lisa McPherson. While the injunction has since been lifted a few years after the suit was settled and the film is no longer banned per se, a legal dispute with investor Robert S. Minton continues to hold up the release. The Disinformation Book Of Lists and The Times have characterized The Profit as a "banned film" in the United States.
• 2010: The Yes Men Fix the World is briefly blocked from releasing due to a pending lawsuit by the commercial entity, United States Chamber of Commerce.

Vietnam

• 1985: Rambo: First Blood Part II
• 1986: Platoon
• 1995: Xich lo (Cyclo)
• We Were Soldiers (as of 2002)
• Green Dragon (as of 2002)

Yugoslavia

• 1952: Ciguli Miguli - banned for its satire of socialist bureaucracy. Issued a license for public showing only in 1977.
• 1970: Plastični Isus (Plastic Jesus) - for its satire of society. It was shown on Belgrade television in 1990.
• 1971: W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism - banned in Yugoslavia for 16 years.

See also

• Motion picture rating system
• List of books banned by governments
• List of banned video games

Further reading

• Forbidden Films: Censorship Histories of 125 Motion Pictures by Dawn Sova ISBN 0-8160-4336-1
• Behind The Mask of Innocence: Sex, Violence, Crime: Films of Social Conscience in the Silent Era by Kevin Brownlow, 2nd ed. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992). Contains considerable information about film censorship in pre-1930 America, and discusses banned silent films in great detail.

External links

• Australian Classification System: Why many Banned Films do not Show up in Figures on Banned Films
• Comparable Studies on International censorship strategies
• A Complete List of Finland's Banned Films until 1997
• Complete List of Movies Banned in Germany
• List of Banned Films, retrieved April 26, 2007
• Wolf Creek Banned in Northern Territory