Jurisdiction Province of Ontario | ||
Formed 27 June 1911
(as Board of Censors) Type entertainment classification Headquarters 4950 Yonge Street
Suite 101B
Toronto Key document Film Classification Act, 2005 Website | ||
The Ontario Film Review Board ((French) Commission de contrôle cinématographique de l’Ontario) is an agency of the government of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for that province's motion picture rating system. Until recently the board reported to the Minister of Consumer Services but as of 1 October 2015, the board is overseen by the Ontario Film Authority. The board's activities are based on the Film Classification Act, 2005.
Contents
History
A three-person Board of Censors was established on 27 June 1911 following passage of the Theatres and Cinematographs Act, 1911. The initial members were Chair George E. Armstrong, Robert Wilson and Otter Elliott. From that point, films to be shown in Ontario legally required review and approval by the board. The Board's censorship authority included newsreels, for example footage from a 1937 General Motors strike was banned "to avoid propaganda by either side."
The Board of Censors began to provide basic film classifications from 1 June 1946, initially as a year-long pilot project to designate certain films which were deemed inappropriate for children. Theatre operators were required to identify such films as "adult entertainment" on marquees and advertising. The Blue Dahlia and Her Kind of Man were among the first films to be identified as adult entertainment in Ontario.
Further changes to the Theatres Act in 1975 empowered what was now known as the Ontario Censor Board to review and censor videotapes and 8 mm film formats as well as conventional theatrical films. In the late 1970s and early 80s the Board was involved in a number of high-profile disputes with the Toronto International Film Festival (known then as the Festival of Festivals) over the Board's refusal to approve some films for screening without cuts, and for banning other films outright. In 1977, the board ordered cuts from the film Je, tu, il, elle which depicted two women having sex; the Festival pulled the film from its programme. In 1978, it demanded a 38-second cut from a love scene in In Praise of Older Women; director Robert Lantos agreed but at the last minute substituted the uncut version of the film. The screening was introduced by federal Secretary of State for Canada John Roberts who publicly denounced the board, telling the audience at the Elgin Theatre that “because of the actions of the Ontario censor it is time for an active affirmation that censors shouldn’t tell people what they should or should not see.” In 1982, the board refused to approve Pierre Rissient’s Cinq et la peau; instead of substituting another film, festival organizers protested the ban by posting a sign outside the theatre explaining why the screen was being kept dark.
The board's high profile actions against various films being screened at the festival had the unintended effect of raising their profile and audience interest. According to former festival director Helga Stephenson, “Silly old [Ontario Censor Board chairman] Mary Brown filled some theatres with some pretty tame stuff. The ranting and raving was a very good way to get the festival into the minds of the public, but internationally it was hugely embarrassing. And it filled the theatre with the wrong people, because they came looking for nothing but blow jobs, and they found themselves in the middle of a long, hard, boring film waiting for a few seconds of a grainy image showing something that looked vaguely like a male sex organ.”
In 1985, the name of the board was changed to the Ontario Film Review Board after the provincial government amended the Theatres Act. The Board composition changed from full-time civil servants to part-time members of the public. In 1988 festival films became exempt from review by the board provided the audience was limited to those eighteen and over.
In 2005 the original and much amended Theatres Act was replaced by the Film Classification Act
In 2013 the Ontario Film Authority was incorporated. It entered into an agreement with the Minister of Consumer Services dated 5 May 2014. On 1 October 2015, an amendment to Ontario Regulation 187/09 came into effect, providing that the Ontario Film Authority is the sole administrative authority for the purpose of administering all provisions of the Film Classification Act, 2005 and the regulations made under that Act.
This restructuring of administrative oversight in 2015 was "part of a larger provincial initiative to streamline more than 200 boards and commissions", according to The Toronto Star.
Censored film cases
Significant cases have occurred where a film was either banned outright in Ontario, or certain scenes were ordered removed:
Several sources claim the Board banned the NFB anti-pornography documentary Not a Love Story. The Board was asked to rate this film, along with three others, submitted by a group of artists, known as the Ontario Film and Video Appreciation Society (OFVAS). The Board refused to view or rate Not a Love Story on the grounds that OFVAS did not own the film or have any distribution rights. Ratings were provided on the other films. The artists then took the Board to court over the ratings given, and the refusal to rate Not a Love Story. The Board's actions were challenged under the new Canadian Constitution.
The Ontario Divisional Court ruled in 1983 that film classification and censorship were justifiable under the Constitution. The court also determined that three of the Board's rulings were valid. Approval with time and place restrictions in the case of The Art of Worldly Wisdom and Rameau's Nephew was considered a "valid exercise of the Board's power." The Board's refusal to review Not A Love Story: A Film About Pornography was acceptable as the Board did not need to perform hypothetical reviews. The film had not been submitted for commercial distribution, and the judge noted "the applicants were seeking permission to show a film they did not own and which they had no right to exhibit." Concerning the Board's ban of the fourth film, Amerika, the court ruled that the Board had no legally defined rights to determine what the public could view. The government appealed to the Ontario Supreme Court, but the appeal was dismissed in 1984. The government subsequently added regulations to define the Board`s powers.
Classifications
The board uses the following motion picture rating system for theatrical releases in the province:
Ratings used from 1946 - 1953:
Ratings used from c. 1953 - 1986:
Ratings used from 1986 - 2003:
The ratings used from 2003–present:
These ratings include a set of Content Advisories:
The primary reason for the addition of the 18A category was films such as Scary Movie and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Adult Movies
Adult movies are given a sticker which denotes:
Chairs
Janet Robinson is the board's current Chair. The longest-serving chair was O. J. Silverthorne, who retired from that position after 40 years. The following people were appointed as Chair of the Board of Censors, and subsequently the Ontario Film Review Board.