New amendments to sections of the Censorship of Films and Video Recordings Acts.
As of this week, there will be a clamp-down on under-age DVD consumption
The change is part of new legislation, the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008, which amends some sections of the Censorship of Films Act, 1923 and the Video Recordings Act, 1989. It is now an offence for retail or rental outlets to supply a DVD/video to a person under the designated age.
It comes as the Irish Film Censor’s Office is rebranded to become the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO).
“Just as Ireland has changed profoundly in recent years, so too has film censorship. We’ve moved far away from the nanny state, moralguardian censorship of yesteryear towards an acceptance of the general principle that, in a mature society, adults should be free (subject to the law) to make their own choices,” said the director of film classification, John Kelleher.
Mark Brennan, assistant classifier at IFCO, pointed out that parents can check the classification of any cinema released film on the website www.ifco.ie. Only 12pc of those in the MRBI survey were aware of this. In 2007, almost 9,000 cinema films and DVDs were certified by IFCO. “We want to be a trustmark for parents,” said Brennan.
Among the many notable films that were cut or banned by the Irish film censors were Gone with the Wind, Brief Encounter, Psycho, Midnight Cowboy , and The Wild Bunch