Hinteler: Question About German Laws...

Documentaries are not banned at all.

Although 'Max' is a Canadian, German, British, Hungarian coproduction, until now no German copies have been shown (= neither in Germany nor in Austria or Switzerland).

I don't think, 'normal' films have ever been banned the last 60 years (when you are 18, you can see everything), until they were thought to be again the §§ 86, 86a of our Criminal Code.

Schindler's List, btw, was on third place in Germany in 1994 of the most-viewed films.

The other films, you named, are certainly as well shown in their original versions - sychronized, of course. (Some cinemas show the English versions as well.)

Barrelofagun69


I'm wondering a bit. (Actually, I don't )

- you called me by family name in this thread,
- PM'ed me, asking to answer the questions,
- have been quite some time watching not only this site, but special topics,
- have obviously done some specific research on German websites as well,
- didn't answer here,
- and just created one single response during your A2K-membership, the questions here.

Hello:

- I called you by your family name because the question was directed towards you. I noticed your well-informed comments on the thread dealing with censorship laws in your country and seemed like the perfect source for my many censorship questions. No disrepect was intended by calling you out by name. As with the PM, I wanted to ensure that you saw the question and to see whether or not you were able to lend your expertise to my question.

- I actually stumbled upon this site the same day that I joined and posted my question / PM. I was looking into censorship laws in Germany and how various forms of entertainment are affected. A huge source of my interest is the German industrial band Rammstein (a favorite of mine), who since their debut album have fought tooth-and-nail against accusations (both in their native country and my country) of being Nazi sympathizers with their music and son et lumiere.

I initially assumed that all of the Nazi allegations stemmed from the American press, especially in the wake of the '99 Columbine shootings, but interviews with the band members have shown that the controversy has been around since before the band was even known outside of the German-speaking countries. That, in turn, caught my attention, and sparked a curiousity in how the German government deals with certain types of entertainment, especially in relation to Western films with Nazi-related subjects. There are at least 2-3 films a year released in my country that deal with the subject in depth, be it a WWII film, a neo-Nazi film, or something along those lines.

- Another source of my interest is the filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, who recently passed. One of the most controversial artists the film medium has ever known. Based on personal taste, she's either a war criminal who got what she deserved or a brilliantly misunderstood artist whose oeuvre all but justifies the existance of film. I'll eventually start a thread on her to see how other people view her work.

- The research I have done didn't really lead me in the right direction. The German law links you provided in the previous thread did shed some light on how your government deals with hate speech and what is considered hateful media and propoganda, a far cry from the States where just about everything goes.

- I did see your responses shortly after you posted them but was engaged in other activities that prevented me from responding. I appreciate you taking the time to address the question, and you did clear quite a few things up.

- I'm new , so my post history is still building. Watch out for me in the film forum. That's where I'll get to show off my experise :-p.

Many thanks for your response.

---chris---

Well, thanks for your response and that you cleared your reasons for asking :wink:

Actually, I should have mentioned this article from the Criminla Code as well

Agitation of the People Leni Riefenstahl died at age 101

Movies that are banned are not such that deal with Nazism, Neo-Nazism or the WWII. Only movies that present the Nazism or any rassistic views as something positive are banned. The same rule applies to the press and literature.

Well, it's actually a law, a couple of laws, to be precise, Maggie:
§§ 86, 86a, 111, 130, 131 StGB and § 6 GjS (the first ones being from the Criminal Code, the last is part of the 'law for the protection of the youth') :wink:


(And 'banning' is not only narrowed to "Nazism or any rassistic views" but valid to anything described in those laws.)

Yeah, true. My point was to show that the law doesn't ban the subjects. It bans views with extremely negative and dangerously rassistic content. What other things that "Nazism and any rassistic views" as you so sweetly quoted me are banned, by the way? I don't know my paragraphs by heart, but as long as i can think, the ban was over the popularization of the views reproducted in any kind of material - written, spoken, multi-media...

Well, the law says "verfassungswidrig" ('against the Basic Law').

Thus, a couple of pamphlets, books, films etc have been banned by -at that time- prohibited ( e.g. communist) organisations as well - since they had been declared by the Federal Constitutional Court to be "verfassungswidrig" :wink:

I understand what you two are saying in regards to hateful subjects and how they are portrayed in the media.

But do you know of any recent films that were banned because they were suspected of being sympathetic to hateful view? Herr Hinteler referred to the film "Max," which has yet to be shown in Germany, but is that because of other reasons besides the fact that the American press lambasted the film for "humanizing" Hitler?

I didn't find the film to be sympathetic at all, but I can see where it would be a touchy subject for some.

Just curious, but other than that, you both have been very concise in your responses to my very broad question. Many thanks.

All I could find out re 'Max' is that the prodcution firm hasn't yet decided to start the film in German speaking countries.

There are some hundred media (about 2400 videos, according to some websites [actually, just 27 in 2003) indexed by the BPjM (= Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons), which is different to 'banned', since you can watch them when older then 18.

I had a look at the link you provided, although it was difficult to navigate through the site since I am unfamiliar with the language. But I think I understand what you mean. In America, you have to be at least 17 to watch certain films (an "R" rating), and that seems to be the American equivalent to films that Germany deems "harmful" to persons under 18. The film are not necessarily banned, but access to the films is restricted (hence, the letter R in the rating) to persons at least 18 or older.

Although you'd be surprised how many American films are passing for ratings lower than "R" (films rated "PG" and "PG-13", which a child of any age can go see) and contain large amounts of sex and violence that can be quite harmful to young viewers.

Thanks.

Got it!
I didn't scroll down far enough to see the British flag icon . The laws regarding content harmful to young persons in your country are now crystal clear. Thanks for providing the link.