Looking Back At Censorship At the Cinema
WDCB’s Gary Zidek checks in with Siskel Film Center director of programming Rebecca Fons to talk about past examples of censorship at the cinema & the Center’s upcoming series, CONTRA/BANNED.
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According to a recent report from the American Library Association, attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries surged in 2022. More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association last year, nearly double the previous record from 2021, and by far the most since the ALA began keeping track of these stats 20 years ago.
The troubling trend was the impetus for the Gene Siskel Film Center to highlight attempts to censor cinema over the years. The organization is presenting a new series titled CONTRA/BANNED starting September 1. The series will feature ten films that each have faced some type of opposition either in the form of bans, forced editing or protest. CONTRA/BANNED will cover a wide range of controversy from the religious opposition to Roberto Rossellini’s 1948 anthology film L’AMORE to 1987’s ROBOCOP, which was re-edited multiple times to reduce the amount of violence.
