Citizendia

The Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC, Māori: Te Tari Whakaropu Tukuata, Tuhituhinga) is the government agency in New Zealand that is responsible for classification of all films, videos, publications, and some video games in New Zealand. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor To publish is to make content Publicly known. The term is most frequently applied to the distribution of text or images on paper or to the placing of content A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. It was created by the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 (FVPC Act) and is an independent Crown Entity in terms of the Crown Entities Act 2004. A Crown entity is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand 's state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004 a unique umbrella governance and accountability The head of the OFLC is called the Chief Censor, maintaining a title that has described the government officer in charge of censorship in New Zealand since 1916. Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor

The FVPC Act gives the OFLC jurisdiction to classify "publications" which include films, videos, DVDs, computer games with restricted content, books, magazines, comics, manga, sound recordings, pictures, newspapers, photographs, photographic slides, "any print or writing", any "paper or other thing" that has images or words on it (including apparel, playing cards, greeting cards, art, store-fronts and billboards), and electronic digital image, text and sound computer files. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather A Book is a set or collection of written printed illustrated or blank sheets made of Paper, Parchment, or other material usually fastened together Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally Comics (via Latin from the Greek "" kōmikos, of or pertaining to "comedy" from kōmos "revel" ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly An image (from Latin imago) or picture is an artifact usually two-dimensional that has a similar appearance to some subject &mdashusually A newspaper is a written Publication containing News, information and Advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called Newsprint. A photograph (often shortened to photo) is an Image created by Light falling on a light-sensitive surface usually Photographic film or an electronic In Photography, a reversal film is a still positive image created on a transparent base using photochemical means Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper thin card or thin plastic figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing Card games A greeting card is an illustrated folded card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual A digital system uses discrete (discontinuous values usually but not always Symbolized Numerically (hence called "digital" to represent information for A computer file is a block of Arbitrary Information, or resource for storing information which is available to a Computer program and is usually The OFLC also approves film posters and slicks. A poster is any piece of printed Paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface Only computer games with restricted content, and all films, videos, and DVDs, must carry a label before being offered for supply or exhibited to the public.

Any person may submit any of the "publications" listed above for classification by the OFLC, with the permission of the Chief Censor. The Secretary for Internal Affairs, Comptroller of Customs, Commissioner of Police and the Film and Video Labelling Body may submit publications for classification without the Chief Censor's permission. The Courts have no jurisdiction to classify publications. If the classification of a publication becomes an issue in any civil or criminal proceeding, the Court must submit the publication to the OFLC. Any person who is dissatisfied with a decision of the OFLC may have the relevant publication, but not the OFLC decision, reviewed by the Film and Literature Board of Review.

Contents

Labels

The FVPC Act gives the OFLC the power to classify publications into three categories: unrestricted, restricted, and "objectionable" or banned. A ban (derived from Banishment) is generally any Decree that prohibits something Unrestricted films are assigned a green or yellow rating label. Restricted films are assigned a red classification label.

New Zealand has used a colour-coded labeling system since 1987. The colours are intended to convey the messages conveyed by a traffic light: a green label means that nothing in the film, video or DVD should inhibit anyone viewing it; a yellow label means proceed with caution because the film, video or DVD may have content younger viewers should not see; and a red label means stop and ensure that no one outside of the restriction views the film, video, DVD or computer game. The traffic light, also known as traffic signal, stop light, traffic lamp, stop-and-go lights, robot or semaphore, The New Zealand classification system currently uses the following labels:

LabelNameDefinition
GGeneralSuitable for general audiences (awarded by the Film and Video Labelling Body and the Office of Film and Literature Classification)
PGParental GuidanceParental guidance recommended for younger viewers (awarded by the Film and Video Labelling Body and the Office of Film and Literature Classification)
MMatureSuitable for (but not restricted to) mature audiences 16 years and over (awarded by the Film and Video Labelling Body and the Office of Film and Literature Classification)
R13R13Restricted to persons 13 years of age and over (awarded by the Office of Film and Literature Classification only)
R15R15Restricted to persons 15 years of age and over (awarded by the Office of Film and Literature Classification only)
R16R16Restricted to persons 16 years of age and over (awarded by the Office of Film and Literature Classification only)
R18R18Restricted to persons 18 years of age and over (awarded by the Office of Film and Literature Classification only)
RRestrictedRestricted to a particular class of persons, or for particular purposes, or both, specified by the Office of Film and Literature Classification

Red labels have been available for non-film publications such as magazines since 2005.

Classification law

The OFLC classifies material based on whether it is likely to be "harmful" or "injurious to the public good". In Economics, a public good is a good that is non-rivaled and non-excludable. Specifically (from the FVPC Act): "a publication is objectionable if it describes, depicts, expresses, or otherwise deals with matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty, or violence in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good. An organism's sex is defined by the gametes it produces males produce male gametes (spermatozoa or Sperm) while females produce female gametes (ova or Egg cells; individual Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment Cruelty can be described as indifference to Suffering, and even positive Pleasure in inflicting it Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure or abuse The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like Storms and Earthquakes " In 2000, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand decided in Living Word Distributors Limited v Human Rights Action Group (Wellington) [2000] NZCA 179 (a case involving two videos produced by Jeremiah Films) that the collocation of the words "sex, horror, crime, cruelty or violence" tends to point to activity rather than to the expression of opinion or attitude. The Court of Appeal of New Zealand, located in Wellington, is New Zealand ’s principal intermediate Appellate court. Jeremiah Films is a low-budget production company headed by Christian conservative activist Patrick Matrisciana based in Westminster California. An opinion is a Person 's Ideas and thoughts towards something which it is either impossible to verify the truth of or the truth of which is thought unimportant to On this interpretation, the OFLC had jurisdiction to restrict or ban publications describing or depicting sexual activities, but not those describing only an attitude or opinion about sex. The same interpretation required publications to describe or depict horror activities, criminal activities, cruel activities and violent activities, rather than just an opinion or attitude about those things, for the OFLC to be able to classify them.

The Court of Appeal explicitly ruled that the phrase "matters such as sex" is strongly indicative of sexual activities and does not include sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is believed to refer to "an enduring pattern of emotional romantic and/or sexual attractions to men women or both sexes This made it more difficult for the OFLC to restrict or ban, for example, publications that simply exploited the nudity of children or that portrayed classes of people as inherently inferior but that did not show any of the specified types of activity, notwithstanding the fact the FVPC Act directs the censors to give "particular weight" to these things when deciding whether or not to restrict or ban a publication. Nudity is the state of wearing no Clothing. The term' "nudity" can also occasionally be used to refer to wearing significantly less clothing than expected It also made it difficult for the OFLC to restrict publications simply containing offensive language or to ban videos of persons taken without their knowledge or consent, such as "upskirt" videos, on the ground of invasion of privacy, again because neither type of publication shows any of the specified types of activity. Upskirt is a:slang term usually referring to up skirt photography, images of the view up a woman's Skirt (as seen from underneath including shots of Privacy law is the area of law concerning the protection and preservation of the Privacy rights of individuals In 2005, Parliament amended the FVPC Act, and commenced amendment of the Crimes Act, to restore the OFLC's jurisdiction over all of these matters except for publications that simply portray classes of people as inherently inferior.

Under the FVPC Act, material that promotes, supports, or tends to promote or support the following is, by its nature, deemed objectionable (banned):

List of Chief Censors

Research

The OFLC regularly conducts research into a variety of issues concerning media regulation. Child pornography refers to material depicting Children being in a state of undress engaged in erotic poses or sexual activity Definition of sexual violence Sexual violence is defined as any sexual act attempt to obtain a sexual act unwanted sexual comments or advances or acts to traffic Coercion (co-er-shion is the practice of compelling a person or manipulating them to behave in an involuntary way (whether through action or inaction by use of threats Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure or abuse The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like Storms and Earthquakes Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον ( zṓion, "animal" and φιλία ( philia, "friendship" or "love" is a Paraphilia Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia and necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses Urolagnia (also urophilia, undinism) is a Sexual activity in which participants derive sexual pleasure from Urine and/or Urination Coprophilia (from Greek κόπρος kópros - excrement and φιλία filía - liking fondness) also called scat, is the Paraphilia William Jolliffe was born in Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England on 16 September 1851 the son of William Peter Jolliffe and Harriett Penny Walter Alfred Tanner was born in Northampton, England in 1878 the son of William Wilcox Tanner, Member of Parliament for Heathcote, Christchurch William Arthur Leopold von Keisenberg was New Zealand's third Chief Censor, a position he held from 1938 to 1949 Gordon Holden Mirams was born in Christchurch on 9 March 1909 the son of Leslie Haywood Mirams and Mary Elvire Webb Arthur Everard graduated with a BA in psychology from Victoria University of Wellington and worked for 17 years as a writer editor and director at the National Film Unit Jane Wrightson was born in Hastings New Zealand in 1958. She became New Zealand’s eighth Chief Censor, and first woman Chief Censor in 1991 a position Kathryn Paterson ( October 17 1962 &ndash September 20 1999) was raised in the sea-side town of Umina, north of Sydney, William Kenneth Hastings has been New Zealand 's Chief Censor since 1999 Since 2000, it has published research on Public and Professional Views Concerning the Classification and Rating of Films and Videos (2000); Public Consultation on Sexually Explicit Videos (2001 and 2002); A Guide to the Research into the Effects of Sexually Explicit Films and Videos (2003); The Viewing Habits of Users of Sexually Explicit Movies in Wellington and Hawke's Bay (2004 and 2005); Underage Gaming (2005); Young People's Use of Entertainment Mediums (2006); and Public Perceptions of Highly Offensive Language (2007). Wellington (ˈwælɪŋtən is the Capital of New Zealand, the country's second largest urban area, the Geography The region is situated on the east coast of the North Island.

The OFLC also regularly convenes panels that are demographically representative of New Zealand as a whole to assist it with the classification of particular publications. It has convened public panels to assist it with the classification of films such as Baise-moi, Salo, Monster's Ball, Irreversible, Silent Hill, Du er ikke alene, Lolita, 8MM and Hannibal. Baise-moi is a novel by French author Virginie Despentes, first published in 1999. Monster's Ball is an Academy Award winning 2001 Romantic drama Film directed by Marc Forster and written is a Survival horror Video game franchise developed and published by Konami. You Are Not Alone ( Du er ikke alene) (1978 is a Danish coming-of-age film written by Lasse Nielsen and Bent Petersen, Lolita (1955 is a Novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author 8 mm may refer to 8mm (band 8 mm film, or its replacement Super 8 mm film and Single-8 film Hannibal (Pronounced in Phoenician: Hanniba'al means " Ba'al is my grace " or " Ba'al has given me grace " 247 BC &ndash More frequently, the OFLC consults experts to assist it with the classification of various publications. For example, religious experts were consulted to assist with the classification of The Passion of the Christ, experts in road safety were consulted on Mischief Destroy, the Children's Commissioner on Ken Park and The Aristocrats, homeopathic practitioners on drug manufacturing books written by Steve Preisler, various human rights organisations and the Vicar of Gisborne on a publication entitled Against Homosexuality[1], and rape crisis centres and psychologists on Irreversible and an edition of the University of Otago student magazine Critic. The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 film co-written co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson. Ken Park is a controversial 2002 Drama film. The screenplay was written by Harmony Korine, who based it on Larry Clark 's journals The Aristocrats is a 2005 documentary Film about the formerly obscure Dirty joke of the same name. This article has been the subject of edit wars and has been placed on probation For the character in The Addams Family, see Uncle Fester Uncle Fester is the author of such controversial books as "Secrets For other uses of Gisborne see Gisborne (disambiguation. Gisborne (Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa is the name of a unitary authority in New Zealand Rape crisis centers evolved in order to help victims of Rape, Sexual abuse, and other forms of Sexual violence. The University of Otago ( Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo) in Dunedin is New Zealand 's oldest university with over 20000 students enrolled during Critic is the official Magazine of the Otago University Students' Association (OUSA of the University of Otago.

Each year, the OFLC consults media studies students in its high school programme called Censor for a Day during which an unreleased film is shown to high school students who are then asked to classify it applying the criteria in the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. The students' classification is compared with, and usually identical to, the film's actual classification. Films used for Censor for a Day have included There's Something About Mary, American Pie, Road Trip, Final Destination 3, V for Vendetta, Thirteen, Crazy/Beautiful, Garage Days, The Notorious Bettie Page, Atonement and Charlie Bartlett. There's Something About Mary is a 1998 Romantic comedy film, directed by the Farrelly Brothers Bobby and Peter. American Pie is a 1999 teen comedy Film directed by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz, and written by Adam This article is about the film Road Trip For the PlayStation 2 video game see Road Trip Adventure. Final Destination 3 is a 2006 Supernatural thriller, and the third film in the Final Destination series. V for Vendetta is a 2006 action - thriller Film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver Thirteen is a 2003 film co-written by Catherine Hardwicke (who also directed and Nikki Reed (who had a leading role Crazy/Beautiful is a 2001 drama / Romance film starring Kirsten Dunst and Jay Hernandez. Garage Days is a 2002 Film directed by Alex Proyas. Garage Days was written by Alex Proyas Dave Warner and Michael Udesky The Notorious Bettie Page is a biographical Film about pinup and bondage model Bettie Page, who is portrayed by Atonement is a 2007 film adaptation of Ian McEwan 's critically acclaimed novel of the same name, directed by Joe Wright, and based Charlie Bartlett is a 2007 comedy from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a teenager who becomes the unofficial psychiatrist for the student body

Criticism

The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards (SPCS) has repeatedly criticised the OFLC for not banning films such as Baise-moi, Irréversible, Takashi Miike's Visitor Q and Lies which it classes as highly pornographic and violent. The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards (SPCS is a conservative Christian-dominated pro-censorship organisation in New Zealand. Baise-moi is a novel by French author Virginie Despentes, first published in 1999. Irréversible ( 2002, France) is a Film written, directed, edited, and photographed by Gaspar (born August 24, 1960) is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese Filmmaker. is a controversial 2001 film directed by cult Japanese director Takashi Miike. Lies ( 거짓말, Gojitmal) is a controversial 1999 South Korean film depicting a sadomasochistic sexual relationship between Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure or abuse The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like Storms and Earthquakes It also alleges that the agency has a policy of banning or restricting films which attack gay lifestyles. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. In fact, the OFLC cannot, by law, ban expressions of opinion and has never done so. The Society also criticised the OFLC for giving an R16 classification to Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ. Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, AO (born January 3 1956 The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 film co-written co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson. This was lowered to R15 by the Film and Literature Board of Review in an appeal brought by the film's distributor, Hoyts. The Hoyts Group is an Australian company consisting of Hoyts Exhibition Hoyts Distribution and Val Morgan The Society is opposed to "sexual promiscuity" and often its criticism of the OFLC refers to the fact the Chief Censor, Bill Hastings, is gay. Promiscuity refers to sexual behavior of a man or woman who casually has sex with many partners William Kenneth Hastings has been New Zealand 's Chief Censor since 1999 The Society has alleged that Mr Hastings is a participant in a 'gay agenda' aimed at promoting homosexuality and promiscuity through giving liberal classifications to films that it believes should be banned. " Homosexual agenda " (or " gay agenda " is a term used by social conservatives primarily in the United States, referring to

SPCS has recently targeted films scheduled for exhibition in the Beck's Incredible Film Festival and the New Zealand International Film Festivals. SPCS criticisms fail to note that New Zealand censorship laws have required censors to consider artistic and literary merit since the debate over Stanley Kubrick's first cinematic adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita in 1960. This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. Lolita (1955 is a Novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author

Having apparently exhausted its avenues of appeal over censorship decisions, in 2006 the SPCS began to criticise the financial management of the OFLC. It complained to the Auditor General that the OFLC was inefficient and mis-managed taxpayer funds. The Auditor General dismissed the SPCS' complaint, stating that "no evidence of waste was found during the course of the audit" of the OFLC. [2]

In June 2007, Exit International Director Dr Philip Nitschke described the decision by the Classification Office banning The Peaceful Pill Handbook as "very disappointing" while recognising "that the Censor was under intense political pressure over this decision"[3]. Dr Philip Nitschke (born 1947 is an Australian Medical doctor, humanist and founder of the pro- Euthanasia group EXIT. The book was banned because it promotes and encourages criminal activity by offering instruction in how to smuggle and manufacture controlled drugs in violation of a number of statutes, not because it advocates reform of the law to permit the seriously ill and elderly access to pentobarbital. [4]

External links

See also

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