In the Opinion of the Censor

Ireland, 2025

At the birth of the Republic, the Censorship of Films Act 1923 decreed that all films publicly distributed in Ireland must be viewed by the Censor of the day, who was given the power to ban or cut them if “in the opinion of the Censor” they were indecent, obscene, blasphemous or contrary to public morality. John Kelleher, Ireland’s last Film Censor and first Director of Film Classification, looks back at how his predecessors interpreted their role and how they determined what the Irish public got to see in cinemas. Contributions from historians, filmmakers, movie archivists and media commentators are accompanied by scenes from titles such as Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Ulysses, The Graduate, and Monty Python’s Life of Brian that Irish audiences were not allowed to see when they were on release. Andrew Gallimore (One Night in Millstreet) returns to the Irish Film Festival London with his latest documentary which illustrates how Irish film censorship reflected changes in Irish society over the last 100 years. - Michael Hayden

DIRECTOR
Andrew Gallimore