Film Regulation in a Cultural Context

Compares censorship’s distinct and varying profiles across five different national contexts - U.S.A., Britain, Canada, Australia and France

• Historical analysis of causes and consequences of the transition away from formal censor boards and toward current practices of classification and ratings
• Detailed textual analysis of the relevant films to contextualize and evaluate rhetorical arguments put forth against them in controversial public receptions
• Draws parallels between the rhetorical practices of censors, and those of the critics, distributors, and advertisers that have assumed the social control of film culture

Film Regulation in a Cultural Context examines cinematic works that provoked censorious impulses throughout the shift away from formal film censorship in the late modern West. The public controversies surrounding Fat Girl, Irreìversible, Ken Park, The Brown Bunny, Wolf Creek and Welcome to New York, each highlight significant stages in this cultural shift, which necessitated policy revision within Britain, Canada and Australia’s institutions of film censorship.

Sacco draws parallels and distinctions between governmental film regulation policies and the social control mechanisms at work within a wider network of institutions, including news media, film festivals and advocacy groups. He examines the means by, and ends to which the social control of film content persists in a national ‘post-censorship’ media landscape, and how concepts of film ‘classification’ manifest in commercial market contexts, journalistic criticism and practices of distribution and advertising.