03/10/2003 - The government department is celebrating its 90th anniversary by freeing films blocked by the censor: finally releasing titles from 1913 to today which were banned from theatrical release

To celebrate its 90th anniversary, the Norwegian government’s Film Control Office has decided to lift the ban on hundreds of films that had been censored and prevented from theatrical distribution since 1913.

Almost 14,000 titles have passed through the hands of the Norwegian censorship board and, as a result, nearly 300 have never been shown to a theatrical audience. Among the films that will now be allowed on the big screen are Steven Seagal’s On Deadly Ground (1994), put aside by the censors because of its violence, and the French film Cold Moon by Patrick Bouchitey (1991), banned because of scenes of necrophilia.
“Many films were prohibited because at the time people had different standards and moral criteria played a big role in censorship”, said Tom Løland, the Head of the Film Control Office. For him, it’s time to change censorship laws when films find an audience through different channels. “It is a paradox that films are still censored before their theatrical release when the internet, TV, video and DVD give access to products that have not been assessed by the censor”, he pointed out.