What the Silent Censor Saw (1919)

The establishment of the BBFC in 1912 was a response by the film industry to the widely varying censorship decisions of the formative years of cinema. Illustrated by surviving ‘problem’ films in the BFI National Archive, this talk by Bryony Dixon (BFI) with Lucy Brett (BBFC) explores the earliest days of the BBFC as it wrestled with such controversial issues as sex, drugs, birth control, animal cruelty and the modus operandi of criminals in film.