List of banned films

For nearly the entire history of film production, certain films have been either boycotted by political and religious groups or literally banned by a regime for political or moral reasons. Paradoxically, banning a movie often completely fails to achieve its intention of preventing a movie from being seen—the publicity given worldwide to banned films often results in it being given attention it might not otherwise receive.

With the advent of the Internet, the ability of groups or governments to ban a film is hindered. High-speed Internet access and better file compression give more people access to digital copies of movies that might not be available for viewing in theaters.

Banning versus censoring

Many governments have commissions to censor and/or rate productions for film and television exhibition. From a government standpoint, the censoring of films is more effective than banning, because it limits the scope of potentially dangerous or subversive cinema without overtly limiting freedom of speech.

In the United States, there has never been national censorship. However, currently the motion picture industry maintains the MPAA Ratings, which are issued to individual films submitted to the MPAA as a means of identifying those with content not considered suitable for children and/or teenagers. The MPAA system is purely voluntary, for both movie makers and theaters. However, almost all theaters in the U.S. use the MPAA system, and many will refuse to show films which are unrated. From 1930 to 1964 film censorship boards did exist on state and/or local levels in some venues in the USA. The MPAA attempted to satisfy requirements of these disparate boards by creating films the Motion Picture Production Code in the late 1920s, another voluntary system designed and implemented by the MPAA. Films were either approved or not under the Code, and those that were generally had little or no problems passing muster with state or local censors.

Also, it is common for filmmakers to claim that their movie is banned when, in fact, the movies aren't banned but unable to find distributors. This is a common practice for both independent and foreign films. A recent example of this is the Toei Company's Battle Royale, a Japanese movie that has been unable to find distribution within the US because the Toei Company has demanded an unusually high distribution price with additional demands for its release. If a movie is not distributed because of economic reasons, it cannot truly be considered a banned movie.

Timeline

Afghanistan

• 2007: The Kite Runner

Argentina

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

Australia

Australia's OFLC (Office of Film and Literature Classification) is responsible for much of the censorship, however each state and territory is free to make additional legislation. See also Censorship in Australia.

In practice, films still get a short cinematic run before they are reviewed & prevented from being shown at cinemas or released on DVD, but broadband Internet access allows people who want to watch such films to do so.

• 1907: The Victorian Chief Secretary banned screenings of The Story of the Kelly Gang in Benalla and Wangaratta.
• 1911: Exhibition of The Story of the Kelly Gang film was banned in Adelaide.
• 1912: The New South Wales police department banned the production of bushranger films.
• 1928 to 1941: Chief Censor Creswell O'Reilly and his board ban many movies in this period, including Dawn, Klondike Annie (starring Mae West), Applause (it contained chorus girls), Compulsory Hands, Cape Forlorn, The Ladies Man (sexual overtones), White Cargo (interracial theme), The Five Year Plan (discussed communism), All Quiet on the Western Front, Gang Bullets, Each Dawn I Die, Hell's Kitchen (three US gangster films), The King and the Chorus Girl, The Birth of a Baby ("not in the public interest"), Green Pastures, Susan and God (blasphemy), Reefer Madness and Of Mice and Men (sex and violence in combination).
• 1942 - The Monster and the Girl, The Man With Two Lives, The Invisible Ghost, and King Kong, Frankenstein, Dracula plus their respective sequels are all banned.
• 1964 to 1970: R. J. Prowse is appointed Chief Censor and Campbell goes into the Appeals Board. During the liberal 1960s many more films were being banned including The Miracle, Viridiana, La dolce vita, Satyricon, The Silence, Blowup and Zabriskie Point.
• 1971: Customs Minister Don Chipp begins the development of a new classification system which includes the much-needed R18+ rating for adult content, meaning movies that were once banned are gradually released.
• 1972: Pink Flamingos was banned until 1984, when it is passed with an X18+ (later R18+) rating.
• 1975: Under pressure from Western conservatives, the OFLC viewed the arthouse Belgian film Vase de Noces (also known as Wedding Trough) and banned it from being played at the Perth International Film Festival (before this, film festivals were not held by restrictions of the censors). In a controversial move, the board lifted the ban on appeal, and the film was allowed to be screened.
• 1976: Pasolini's Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma is banned. Vase de Noces is re-banned, and it remains banned to this day.
• 1984 : A governmental conference is held, resulting in the X18+ rating being introduced to cope with the upsurge in hardcore pornographic films, and the later abolition of X18+ rated material in most Australian states (ownership of hardcore porn remains legal). Cannibal Holocaust, an extremely graphic cannibal film by director Ruggero Deodato, was banned until 2005.
• 1986: Lucker the Necrophagous is banned due to its graphic necrophilia content.
• 1990: Gail Malone is fired and the Queensland Film Board of Review is disbanded when the new Labor Premier Wayne Goss is outraged that the Board had banned an edited version of Bad Taste after a three-week run in cinemas (the South Australian Classification Council cut it by a further 4 min 30 sec for an M rating). It is later released uncut on DVD. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors was also banned for a brief period, but later released on VHS and DVD.
• 1992: The Chinese gore film Dr. Lamb, previously banned in 1981, is released with 9 m 30s cut (the poster is still banned). Nekromantik, its sequel Nekromantik 2 and Joe D'Amato's Buio Omega are banned for necrophilia content, The Beast in Heat is banned for excessive sexual violence and Final Exit are banned for controversial themes after customs consfiscations.
• 1993: The ban on Pasolini's Salò is lifted. The MA15+ classification is introduced.
• 1995: Twelve queer films are banned from 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. [1]
• 1996: The Frighteners was banned in Tasmania because of sensitivity of the nature of the recent Port Arthur massacre (including a similar appearance of the film's antagonist and the gunman, Martin Bryant). The film has been since been televised and as released on VHS and DVD without problems.
• 1997: Pasolini's Salò is re-banned, a ban still in force.
• 2000: Romance is banned, but is later passed on appeal by the OFLC with an R18+ rating.
• 2002: Baise-moi is banned after initially being passed with an R18+ rating.
• 2003: Ken Park is banned, and NSW police close down a planned screening of the film.
• 2005: Wolf Creek was temporarily banned in the Northern Territory to avoid influence during the trial of Bradley John Murdoch for murder. It was re-released in the Northern Territory in January 2006.[2] The OFLC unbanned a number of previously banned films including Cannibal Holocaust and The New York Ripper after a lengthy review. The South Australian Classification Council upgrades the classification of 9 Songs from R18+ to X18+, effectively banning it in South Australia (it remains R18+ in the rest of the country).

Brazil

• Di Cavalcanti (1977) was banned outright.

Burma

Main article: Censorship in Burma

• The King & I (1956)
• Peeping Tom (1960)
• The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
• Catch-22 (1970)
• A Clockwork Orange (1971)
• Pink Flamingos (1972)
• The Exorcist (1973)
• The Fortune (1975)
• Saturday Night Fever (1977)
• Apocolypse Now (1979)
• Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
• Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
• Scarface (1983)
• Full Metal Jacket (1987)
• The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
• Henry & June (1990)
• Showgirls (1995)
• Boogie Nights (1997)
• Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
• The Prince of Egypt (1998)
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)
• Anna And The King (1999)
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
• Three Kings (1999)
• Zoolander (2001)
• Pinocchio (2002)
• Queen of the Damned (2002)
• Bruce Almighty (2003)
• Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
• Matrix Reloded (2003)
• Matrix Revolutions (2003)
• The Passion of The Christ (2004)
• Sideways (2004)
• Team America: World Police (2004)
• Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Hostel (2005)
• Rent (2005)
• Sin City (2005)
• Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
• The Da Vinci Code (2006)
• United 93 (2006)
• 300 (2007)
• Hostel: Part II (2007)
• The Simpsons Movie (2007)

Canada

Prior to the late 1980s and early 1990s, all Canadian provinces banned films with no purpose other than the display of explicit sexuality or excessive violence.

• 1918: Manitoba institutes a ban (since lifted) on all comedies.
• 1972: Pink Flamingos is edited in several provinces with the Maritimes banning it outright until 1997.
• 1976: Bloodsucking Freaks is banned in the Maritimes and Ontario.
• 1977: In the Realm of the Senses is banned by all provinces except Quebec. In 1991, the ban was overturned by most provinces.
• 1979: Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens is banned in the Maritimes.
• 1980: Caligula is banned by all provinces, edited versions were later passed.
• 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 the Maritimes until 1998.
• 1985: Day of the Dead is banned in Ontario and the Maritimes, with a cut version passed in Ontario.
• 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 the Maritimes.
• 1994: Exit to Eden is temporarily banned by the Saskatchewan Film and Video Classification Board.
• 1997: Bastard Out of Carolina is banned by the Maritime Film Classification Board. This decision was later appealed and a video release was allowed.
• 2001: Fat Girl banned by the Ontario Film Review Board until 2003.
• 2006: Bumfights is banned in seven of the ten provinces; the remaining three give it an R rating.

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.

China

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

• 1960: Ben-Hur, for containing "propaganda of superstitious beliefs, namely Christianity." (Never given permission to screen)
• 1994: To Live, for its satirical portrayal of various policies and campaigns of the Communist government. (Never given permission to screen)
• 1997: Kundun - regarded as Tibetan nationalism (Banned outright along with director Martin Scorsese)
• 1997: Seven Years in Tibet, for its view on a free Tibet. (Banned outright along with actors Brad Pitt and David Thewlis for life)
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, for parodying Saddam Hussein, the former President of Iraq. The show still remains. (Never given permission to screen)
• 2000: Devils on the Doorstep, for its controversial portrayal of the Japanese Occupation of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War despite being a Chinese-made film (Never given permission to screen)
• 2005: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, for its unflattering depictions of Chinese society (Never given permission to screen)
• 2006: Memoirs of a Geisha, over concerns it could rouse anti-Japanese sentiment. (Banned outright)
• 2006: Brokeback Mountain, for its depictions of homosexuality. (Never given permission to screen)
• 2006: Scorsese's The Departed, for suggesting that the government intends to use nuclear weapons on Taiwan, which is a very sensitive political issue. (Never given permission to screen)
• 2006: Over the Hedge was banned due to a difficulty with the DVD copy and some killing scenes to the animals. (Never given permission to screen)
• 2006: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, for its depiction of incest. (Never given permission to screen)

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

Denmark

• In 1937, Ryska snuvan was banned.

Egypt

• Early 1960s: The government of Gamal Abdel Nasser banned all films starring Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and several other American actors and actresses due to their strong, public support of Israel.
• 2003: Bruce Almighty was banned due to "sacreligous content".
• 2003: The Matrix Reloaded was banned due to what government censors claimed was anti-religious content, although critics have argued that the ban had more to do with the fact that the film's heroes inhabit a city called Zion.
• 2006: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was banned because of the delay from both DVD re-trailers and all movie theaters.

Finland

• 1940s: During World War II, Finland banned the films Mrs. Miniver and Johnny Eager in 1943.

Other films banned in Finland include:

• 1930: Bronenosets Potyomkin
• 1933-1939: King Kong
• 1947-1949: The Big Sleep .
• 1948: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
• 1956-1959: Rififi, for an extended sequence detailing how to crack a safe. A 1959 re-cut was allowed.
• 1957: The Curse of Frankenstein and its sequels The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969).
• 1960: Peeping Tom
• 1964-1987: The Manchurian Candidate
• 1972: Dirty Harry
• 1981: Cruising
• 1981: Evil Dead
• 1984-2001: Cannibal Holocaust

France

• 1939: Beau Geste was banned until 1977 for portraying the Foreign Legion in a negative light and insulting French culture
• 1943: Le Corbeau was banned until 1969, first by the Nazis, then the French government, for dealing with collaboration.
• 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 black art. The film was seen at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953 but subsequently banned by the French censor.
• 1957-1975: Paths of Glory was banned because it suggested that French soldiers in World War I executed their own soldiers for cowardice. This was done by the Italian and British armies, but there is no evidence that it was done by the French.
• 1960: Le Petit Soldat was banned on political grounds and the ban was lifted in 1963 with certain cuts.
• 1970: Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal, also known as Do not Deliver Us from Evil, was a movie based on the Parker-Hulme murder that was banned for blasphemy.

Germany

• 1919: Different From The Others banned for homosexual themes.[3]
• 1933 - 1945: Bronenosets Potyomkin (Battleship Potemkin), a film made by Sergei Eisenstein depicting the 1905 Revolution in Odessa, was banned during the period of the Third Reich.
• 1939 - 1945: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart and directed by Frank Capra, was banned for political reasons, according to Capra's autobiography The Name Above The Title.
• 1940s-1998: The Great Dictator, starring Charlie Chaplin, was banned during Hitler's regime in Germany because of its satirical depictions of the dictator.
• 1945: Triumph of the Will is nowadays only allowed to be shown in critical context, e.g. with introductory remarks.
• 1974: Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS. Also banned in Australia, Norway and the UK.
• 1983: Maniac, the first ban of a video tape in Germany.
• 1984: § 131 StGB, the act against violent media is reformed. In the following time there were many films banned because of violent contents. All these films are still banned.
• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust was banned until 1990; the uncut version is still banned outright.
• 1985: The Evil Dead was banned until a version with a few seconds cut was legalized in 1993; the uncut version is still banned.
• 1985: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. A court in Munich banned this horror classic (still banned).
• 1988: Friday the 13th Part 3 and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (heavily cut) are banned on the same day by a court in Frankfurt.
• 1991: Dawn of the Dead. The censor's favorite: more than 10 versions of George A. Romero's film are banned in Germany, even heavily cut versions.
• 2000: Braindead - later cut (uncut version still banned).
• 2003: After an 18 year old pupil run amok in a German school and killed 17 people with a handgun before shooting himself, the § 131 StGB was reformed again.
• 2004: Blood Feast. A court in Karlsruhe banned this film more than 40 years after its making.
• 2006: Spielen wir Liebe, an infamous exploitation movie from 1977, was banned because of child pornography.

Iceland

• 1985 - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, re-rated 16 in 1999.

India

• 1970 - Kissa Kursi Ka was banned for political reasons.
• 1984 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was banned for its "racist portrayal of Indians and overt imperialistic tendencies". For example, the film shows chilled monkey brains are served as a dessert in India, which in reality, contradicts the reverence Hindus have towards monkeys due to mythological character Hanuman in the epic Ramayana.
• 1996 - Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (cut version available)

Iran

• 1956: The King & I
• 1968: Oliver!
• 1971: A Clockwork Orange
• 1973: The Exorcist
• 1977: Saturday Night Fever
• 1980: Cannibal Holocaust
• 1982: The Dark Crystal
• 1983: Scarface
• 1989: Pet Sematary
• 1990: Henry & June
• 1995: Showgirls
• 1997: Boogie Nights
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut; Three Kings and Anna and the King
• 2001: Zoolander
• 2002: Pinocchio and Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heavens Door
• 2003: Bruce Almighty and Matrix Revolutions
• 2004: Fahrenheit 9/11 and Catwoman
• 2005: The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Brokeback Mountain
• 2006: The Da Vinci Code and Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
• 2007: 300

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.
• 1999: Three Kings
• 2002: Pinocchio and Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heavens Door
• 2005: The 40-Year-Old Virgin
• 2006: The Da Vinci Code The title is completely unavailable.

Ireland

• 1931: Monkey Business was banned because censors feared it would encourage anarchic tendencies.
• 1967: Ulysses, based on the book by James Joyce - unbanned September 2000.
• 1968: Rocky Road to Dublin (documentary which in part questioned Irish censorship) - unbanned in 2003.
• 1971: A Clockwork Orange - unbanned in 2000.
• 1979: Monty Python's The Life of Brian - unbanned in 1987.
• 1983: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - unbanned in 1990.
• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust - unbanned in 2006.
• 1989: Meet The Feebles - still banned as of 2007.
• 1991: Riki-Oh - unbanned in 2002.
• 1994: Natural Born Killers - unbanned.
• 1996: From Dusk Till Dawn - unbanned in 2000.
• 1999: Romance - still banned.
• 2000: Baise Moi - still banned.

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

Banned movies can still be viewed at private members clubs with 18+ age limits.

Israel

The government has media censorship based on British emergency regulations from 1948 stating that applies to domestic media, foreign newspapers and wire service transmissions from or through Israel. The Israeli Military Censor has the power to turn off a broadcaster, stop information and arrest journalists. Most often however, the Israeli Film Ratings Board bans films for "expressing support for illegal or terrorist organizations" or questioning the government's actions against terrorists. An example is the 2002 film Jenin, Jenin, in which survivors of the Jenin massacre, led by Ariel Sharon, were interviewed. The ban was lifted by the country's Supreme Court in August 2005.

Italy

Although there is a censorship board run by the government and in which one member is drawn from the Roman Catholic Church, very few movies are not certified for release. Notably, Lion of the Desert, starring Anthony Quinn and concerning the Libyan revolution against Italy, and a few other films concerning Italian war crimes during its brief colonial history were banned for a time during the post-Mussolini period. Almost all Pasolini's movies, including Salo: 120 Days of Sodom (1975), were banned for a while but then released. Luc Besson's film The Big Blue was banned for 14 years because Enzo Maiorca felt that it inaccurately portrayed him and his rivalry with Jacques Mayol. Last Tango in Paris was banned for some time as well. Another Italian film, Cannibal Holocaust, was banned in Italy from 1980-1984. It was banned on the belief that the actors were actually killed for the movie (i.e. that it was an actual snuff film). When this was proven false, it was banned by an animal cruelty law (the film features the actual slayings of many animals), until the verdict was overturned in 1984. Also banned under Mussolini was the film adaptations of Ayn Rand's novel We the Living, titled Noi vivi and Addio, Kira.

Japan

Despite Japan's strict censorship policy on nudity, very few films are banned there.

Those that are banned are usually put under self imposed studio bans by the companies that produced them.

• 1945: The Akira Kurosawa directed movie The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail was temporarily banned by the SCAP because it portrayed feudalism in a positive light.
• 1955: The Toho production Half Human, directed by Ishiro Honda was put under a self imposed ban by Toho after it was feared that the film would be seen as degrading portrayal of Japan's Ainu minority.

The film was never released on VHS, laserdisc or DVD and to this day the only way to see it is through its heavily edited US version.

• 1958: Varan the Unbelievable was put under a self imposed studio ban by Toho for some of the same reasons that Half Human was but was finally released in the 1980s on VHS and laserdisc (with a few lines of reportedly racist dialogue removed from the film).
• 1969: Teruo Ishii's exploitation flick Horrors of Malformed Men‎ was put under a studio ban by Toei due to the film's numerous offensive elements.

These days, with the film currently unavailable in any format in Japan or the West, the only way to see it is through the occasional screening.

• 1974: Toho placed yet another one of their films under a self imposed ban, this time Prophecies of Nostradamus, an apocalyptic disaster film after a group of hibakusha, or Hiroshima survivors, saw the film and were highly 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. Toho attempted releasing this film onto 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 containing the time code at the top of the screen.

Kuwait

• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
• 1999: Three Kings
• 2004: Fahrenheit 9/11
• 2005: The 40 Year-Old Virgin
• 2007: The Kingdom

Malaysia

• The Exorcist (1973) - passed for VCD release by Movie Master
• Saturday Night Fever (1977) - passed for DVD release
• Scarface (1983)
• Cannibal Holocaust (1984)
• Pet Sematary (1989)
• Schindler's List (1993) - passed in 2004 for DVD release by Berjaya HVN
• Babe (1995) - passed for VHS release by Berjaya HVN in 1996
• Showgirls (1995)
• Last Man Standing (1996)
• Boogie Nights (1997)
• Babe: Pig in the City (1998)- passed for VCD release by Berjaya HVN
• Blade (1998)
• The Prince of Egypt (1998) - passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN
• Saving Private Ryan (1998) - passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
• Fiza (2001)
• Zoolander (2001)
• Auto Focus (2002) - passed for VCD release from MediaMax.com Sdn Bhd.
• Queen of the Damned (2002)
• 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)
• Pinocchio (2002)
• Bruce Almighty (2003) - passed for VCD and DVD release by Berjaya HVN
• Daredevil (2003) - passed for VCD and DVD release
• Homerun (2003)
• Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
• Underworld (2003)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) - passed for DVD release by Berjaya HVN
• The Girl Next Door (2004)
• The Passion of the Christ (2004) - prohibited from non-Christian viewers
• Sideways (2004)
• Team America: World Police (2004)
• Saw (2004)
• Sin City (2005)
• Hustle & Flow (2005)
• The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
• Saw II (2005)
• Inside Deep Throat (2005)
• Hard Candy (2005)
• Hostel (2005)
• Rent (2005)
• Brokeback Mountain (2006)
• See No Evil (2006)
• United 93 (2006)
• How to Eat Fried Worms (2006)
• Saw III (2006)
• Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
• 300 (2007)
• Hostel: Part II (2007)
• The Simpsons Movie (2007)
• Rush Hour 3 (2007)
• Halloween (2007)
• Saw IV (2007)

Morocco

• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust
• 1995: Showgirls
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut & Anna and the King
• 2004: The Passion of the Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11 & Team America: World Police
• 2005: The 40-Year-Old Virgin & Brokeback Mountain
• 2006: The Da Vinci Code & Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

New Zealand

• 1972 - The Last House on the Left (ban lifted 2004, DVD released uncut)
• 1978 - Day of the Woman (ban lifted 2004, DVD released uncut)
• 1981 - Mad Max (VHS release was not banned)
• 2004 - Puni Puni Poemy
• 2006 - Bumfights: Cause for Concern, Bumfights 2: Bumlife
• 2006 - Cannibal Holocaust
• 2007 - Hostel: Part II (excisions recommended but not made)

Norway

• 1964-1971: 491
• 1984-2005: Cannibal Holocaust
• 1998: Kite

Oman

• 2006: Basic Instinct 2

Pakistan

• The Pakistani government has banned the import of Indian and American films, leaving piracy as the only way to distribute them.
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut , banned just like the show, South Park, because of the parody of Saddam Hussein. The censors and the audience walked out of the theater as it says, "The first non-pornographic movie to be banned in Pakistan." Even though it says uncut in this title, the cut version is permitted (the uncut version is still banned).
• 2006: The Da Vinci Code, out of respect for the Christian community there.

Poland

• 1982-1987 Blind Chance, like many of Kieslowski's films, it was banned for politically sensitive themes
• 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 managed to get a court ban on the movie because they claimed it was libelous.

Portugal

• 1970: Catch-22 was banned until 1974 for the scene showing Capt. Yossarian naked in a tree.

Russia

• 2006: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan banned as "offensive". [4] It is the first non-pornographic film since the fall of the Soviet Union to be banned in Russia.

Samoa

• 2006: The Da Vinci Code (see Censorship in Samoa for details)

Singapore

• 1971: A Clockwork Orange was banned for over 30 years before an attempt for release was made in 2006. However the ban was not lifted when the submission for a M18 rating was rejected.
• 1974: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was prohibited from releasing in the island since the 1970s.
• 1979: Life of Brian contains inappropriate' religious content which led the film to be banned.
• 1980: The highly disturbing Cannibal Holocaust was banned outright for its extreme violence.
• 1981: The Evil Dead has been banned since its release in 1981. The authority disallowed it for "excessive graphic violence and gore".
• 1986: Along with its prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was categorised as banned by the authority. No submittance for re-rating was ever made.
• 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.
• 1995: Lie Down with Dogs was banned for strong sexuality.
• 1999: The movie South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut shared the same fate with its banned television series.
• 2003: 15 was initially banned, and the Singapore board of censors later ruled that the film should be rated R(A) and made 27 cuts to the film.
• 2004: A Dirty Shame was banned for its crude humour and sexuality.
• 2004: Formula 17 was banned because it "portrayed homosexuality as normal, and a natural progression of society."
• 2006: Shortbus was banned for its explicit sexual content.
• 2006: The movie Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was banned for the extreme nudity during the fight in the hotel scene. It was cut off during its screening.

Solomon Islands

• 2006: The Da Vinci Code. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare stated that the film "undermines the very roots of Christianity in Solomon Islands." [5]

South Africa

• 1971: A Clockwork Orange was banned.
• 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).
• 1990: Henry & June was banned.
• 2007: Saw IV was banned because it refuses to cut out the parts not intended for South Africa.

Soviet Union

• 1967: Komissar was banned. It was re-released in the late 1980s, winning nine awards, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. [6]

South Korea

• 1925-1992: The Battleship Potemkin was banned.
• 1973: Three Days of Condor was banned.
• 1988-2001: Apocalypse Now was banned.

Currently, none of these films are banned anymore as of today.

Spain

• 1939-1976: The Battleship Potemkin was banned.
• 1940-1976: The Great Dictator was banned for its portrayal of Fascism.
• 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.
• 1972: Last Tango in Paris was banned.

Sri Lanka

• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was banned due to many vulgarities and portraying of Saddam & the war on terror. It shared the same fate as the show, South Park does. (Banned Outright)
• 2006: The Da Vinci Code. Banned by presidential order of Mahinda Rajapakse President of Sri Lanka. [7]
• 2006: Aksharaya (Letter of Fire) was banned for dealing with issues of incest, murder, and rape. (Banned Outright)

Sweden

• 1922-1972: Nosferatu was banned for excessive horror.
• 1981: Mad Max
• 1997: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation [8]

Switzerland

• 1994: Blutgeil

Thailand

• 1946: Anna and the King of Siam for its Oriental depiction of Thai culture.
• 1956: The King and I
• 1999: Anna and the King
• 2006: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Trinidad and Tobago

• 1956: The King & I
• 1980: The Gods Must Be Crazy
• 1983: Scarface
• 1999: Anna and the King
• 2006: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Tunisia

• In 2007, 300 was banned.

Turkey

• 1922-2006: Nosferatu from the 1920's was banned due to its portrayal of extreme blood and gore. Banned Outright
• 1972-2000: Pink Flamingos got banned for extreme nudity not used for Turkey. Screened Without Permission
• 1984: Cannibal Holocaust was officially banned due to the killing of the animals. Banned Outright
• 1993: Army of Darkness was banned because New Line Cinema refused to cut out the gory parts. Screened Without Permission
• 1999: Anna & The King was banned by the court of Turkey due to the scenes in Thailand. Screened Without Permission
• 1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut shared the banning like the show South Park. Banned Outright
• 2003: Bruce Almighty banned due to the images of Turkey. Banned Outright
• 2006: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was intentionally banned due to the complaints of Turkey, and the naked scenes. Banned Outright

Ukraine

• 2004: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

United Arab Emirates

• 2006: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

United Kingdom

• 1932: Freaks is rejected by British censors and banned. Available from 1963
• 1952: Freaks is again rejected for a cinema rating certificate. Available from 1963
• 1954: The Wild One was banned from distribution in the United Kingdom until the late 1960s. Now available
• 1960: La maschera del demonio was banned until 1968 due to its violent content.
• 1963: Freaks is finally passed with an X rating.
• 1968: Roger Corman's film The Trip was banned due to glorification of LSD. It is later unbanned but not released in Britain until the mid-1990s.
• 1972: The Last House on the Left was banned by the BBFC until 2002.
• 1974: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was passed uncut in 1999.
• 1975: Umberto Lenzi's Il paese del sesso selvaggio is banned.
• 1981: Ruggero Deodato's La casa sperduta nel parco (The House on the Edge of the Park) is banned until 2002.
• 1984: The infamous video nasty list is created to protect against obscenity. Films on this list were banned and distributors of said films were viable to be prosecuted (some of the films were banned before this list was made). This list banned 74 films at one point in the mid-1980s, but the list was eventually trimmed down when only 39 films were successfully prosecuted. Most of the films (even of the 39 successfully prosecuted) have now been approved by the BBFC either cut or uncut (see Video Recordings Act 1984)

For a list of films included in the list, see Video nasty

• 1989 Visions of Ecstasy is banned under blasphemy laws, and is presently the only film banned in the UK due to blasphemy.

United States

Films are usually not banned today in the United States, as the First Amendment's section on freedom of speech is usually enforced. Decades ago, however, obscenity was a valid reason for a film to be banned in certain cities across the nation.

• 1908: The James Boys in Missouri and Night Riders are banned in Chicago.
• 1915: The Birth of a Nation banned in several American cities, including Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis.
• 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". Message Photo-Play v. George H. Bell, 179 A.D. 13 (1917).
• 1919 - 1920: Within Our Gates banned in Chicago, New Orleans, and Omaha, for its depiction of interracial rape, lynching, and racial discrimination.
• 1926: The Red Kimono, based on a real-life Chicago murder case and political scandal, banned in Chicago.
• 1928: The Racket banned in Chicago.
• 1931: Frankenstein banned in Kansas for its portrayal of cruelty.
• 1932: Freaks banned in Cleveland.
• 1932: Scarface, a violent gangster movie set in Chicago, is banned in Chicago.
• 1936 - 1966: The 1931 version of "The Maltese Falcon" (not to be confused with the better known "cleaned-up" 1941 version) could not be shown in its unedited "lewd" version.
• 1945: Scarlet Street banned in New York City, according to Jan Morris' book Manhattan '45.
• 1949: Pinky was banned by the city of Marshall, Texas because it portrayed an interracial couple, a violation of the city's censorship code.
• 1954: Salt of the Earth was banned by the House Un-American Activities Committee for its defense of workers on strike.
• 1961: Victim banned in many American cities due to language. [9]
• 1967 - 1992: Titicut Follies is barred from distribution by legal order because the movie 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.
• 1987: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story is banned from sale, distribution, and public exhibition by court order after a civil trial on copyright infringement.
• 1997; The Tin Drum (film) was briefly banned in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, who deemed the film child pornography. The shot in question depicted minors performing oral sex.
• 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.
• 2002 - present: The Profit is prevented from exhibition by a legal injunction in one jurisdiction by a lawsuit from the Church of Scientology claiming libel, pending trial. The Disinformation Book Of Lists and The Times have characterized The Profit as a "banned film" in the United States.

Theoretically, free speech in the U.S. can also be limited if it might cause a clear and present danger of an imminent lawless action, or constitutes a copyright violation.

Vietnam

• 1986: Platoon
• 1987: Full Metal Jacket
• 1995: Xich lo

Yemen

• 2006: The Omen
• 2006: Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Zimbabwe

• 2005: The Interpreter

See also

• Snuff film
• Motion picture rating systems
• List of banned books

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
• Wolf Creek banned in Northern Territory
• 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