Egypt’s censorship chief says sexual scenes would still be deleted
Fathy said that Egypt would be implementing the PG rating system that classifies films into three age categories, 12, 15 and 18
Plans to introduce the PG rating system for movies in the Egyptian cinemas would only limit censorship as nudity and explicitly sexual scenes would still be cut out, the head of Egypt’s state censorship board said Wednesday.
“Of course, if it is a scene of explicit sex it will be removed,” Chairman of the Censorship Bureau Abd El Sattar Fathy said. Images of “male and female genitalia as well as nudity scenes will also be removed,” he added.
“Any movie that is clearly promoting pornography, homosexuality or that is damaging Egypt’s relations with some specific countries will still be rejected,” Fathy noted.
These scenes must be deleted according to Egypt’s “censorship rules,” Fathy said.
Broadcast media and films in Egypt are pre-screened for approval.
Fathy said that Egypt would be implementing the PG rating system that classifies films into three age categories, 12, 15 and 18.
“This new system is aimed at protecting vulnerable children from adult content,” Fathy said.
In earlier statements to Reuters Arabic, Fathy described the PG rating system as "one of the mechanisms of censorship.”
"The film on which we have some remarks could now be shown to viewers, but to a specific age category that will be determined in advance," he said.
He said the new measure "would not prevent" deleting scenes of "atheism" or that incite "sectarian strife."
He also said that the board seeks to implement the classification “as soon as possible” but that training on this could take two months.
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