Dangerous Cinema?

"Films in Conflict with the Law, Money and Society" is the theme of this year's colloquium of the Deutschen Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen. Restrictive measures such as censor-ship and age restrictions have accompanied cinema since its birth and prove its—actual or pre-sumed—threat potential. Examples from more than 100 years of film history give insights into the changeability and continuity of censorship decisions and their effects on film historiography, as well as production and distribution practices—something which should not be underestimated. Until today, legal bans, youth protection laws and admission restrictions often enough prove to be a juridical expression of social taboos. Hence, the repeated debates on what may be shown with which means for which purpose, above all reveal the changing norms of society. Conversely, visual provocations and the breaking of taboos are an essential component of cinematic production and actually constitute the condition of existence of certain genres. What is the function of these films maneuvering along the borders of what is allowed and endurable, and how do they find their audi-ence? How do archives deal with unloved, questionable and controversial films? How can one take up the challenges of the Internet as a distribution medium of moving images that are problematic in terms of applicable laws and copyrights? On two days, film scholars, archivists, festival curators, and jurists will examine these and other questions related to banned, cut and scandalized films. On the first day of the colloquium, censorship practices prior to 1930 will be examined in a historical excursion, the cinematic underground movement in Spain under Franco’s dictatorship will be presented, and the self-understanding of archives and the role of the FSK (voluntary self regulation of the movie industry) in evaluating films will be discussed. The second day is dedicated to present-day topics, e.g. putting horror and violent movies on the index, the depiction of sexuality, censorship in authoritarian and multi-religious states such as Nigeria, and not least the Inter-net and its global networks.