‘Not Approved for Screening’: political film censorship in West Germany by the Interministerieller Ausschuss für Ost/West-Filmfragen

Abstract

This article provides an introduction into the activity of the committee and scrutinizes the factual backgrounds of film censorship. Several case studies examine the motives for censoring certain films, analyse the legal and political justification of censoring, and deal with incidents of public opposition to the censorship. Finally, the article discusses the relevance of the activity of the censorship committee within an all-German cultural history.