International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1931)

181 — placed at the disposal of the People's Commissariat for Education. Once the licence is issued, no change may be made in the film or in the captions without the special consent of the organ of control which granted the right of performance. There are no regulations in Soviet Russia which prescribe that films shall be examined by Soviet organs before they are imported from abroad. Theoretically, any film may be imported provided it has received the special licence of the People's Commissariat for Trade which is also in charge of the foreign trade monopoly. If, however, the Control Committee or its delegated organs prohibit exhibition, the individual or institution concerned has the right to re-export the film. Censorship criteria. — There are no hard-and-fast censorship rules -in Russia. The general principles underlying the matter cover three main points, political, morals and the army. The first and the third call for no comment; every State has sovereign power within its own frontiers and the right to maintain its own prestige and its own institutions and to choose the persons or bodies responsible for safeguarding them. As regards the moral question, we need only refer to the editorial notes published in the International Review of Educational Cinematography (i), which not only explain what the cinema in Russia is doing for the protection and welfare of children, but also describe the censorship system in force for the purpose of preventing the projection of pictures which may encourage vice and crime. Further considerations, in addition to the three mentioned, justify State intervention in the matter of film censorship. The cultural or ordinary entertainment character of a film is determined by Sovkino, (i) January 1930 The Cinematograph in the Soviet Republic. March 1930 Social Aspects of Russian Life. April 1930 — Progress of the Cinema throughout the World. June 1930 Soviet Film Activities. which centralises and de jure and de facto controls the whole of Soviet film manufacture; for purposes of censorship Russian law makes no distinction between cultural and other films. All alike depend upon the Committee's judgment and are subject to a single regime from the economic as well as the formal point of view. The same applies to films to be projected not in public cinema theatres, but in schools, scientific institutes, workmen's clubs, etc. The projectors owned by such institutions may show any films whatever from among those belonging to the central renting organisation, without any further examination than the general censorship described above. The only exception to this rule is in respect of films to be shown to rural populations. For this purpose only films are allowed which have obtained a special licence from the Political Education Committee attached to the People's Commissariat for Education of the U. S. S. R. Lists of these films are published periodically in the Weekly Review of the People's Commissariat for Education and the chief requirements of such films are that they shall be intelligible to the relatively simple minds of their public and that they shall contain ideas or manifestations of the outside world that may interest the spectators. Validity of censorship licences. — The licence issued by the control organ is valid for eight months, during which time the film may be shown as often as is desired. Territorially permits issued directly by the Committee authorise projection throughout the whole republic; those issued by local artistic and literary organs are only valid for the particular area or district. The publication of a production in the periodical lists of the Control Committee or political control section of the G. P. U. is alone sufficient to authorize public projection. Nevertheless, in addition to the request submitted by the above-mentioned organs or individuals, public entertainment firms must submit the performing licence and the text of the work (play, film, etc.), copies or programme items, etc., passed by the censorship authorities.