MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM SPORTS AND TOURISM Independence – Freedom – Happiness
-------------- ------------- No.: 12/2015/TT-BVHTTDL Hanoi, December 11, 2015
CIRCULAR
ON AMENDMENTS TO A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE STATUTES ON APPRAISAL AND ISSUANCE OF FILM EXHIBITION LICENSE WHICH ARE ATTACHED TO DECISION NO. 49/2008/QD-BVHTTDL DATED JULY 09, 2008 OF MINISTER OF
CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM
Pursuant to the Law on Cinematography No. 62/2006/QH11 dated June 29, 2006, and the Law No. 31/2009/QH12 dated June 18, 2009 providing for amendments to the Law on Cinematography;
Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 54/2010/ND-CP dated May 21, 2010 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Cinematography No. 62/2006/QH11 dated June 29, 2006, and the Law No. 31/2009/QH12 dated June 18, 2009 providing for amendments to the Law on Cinematography;
Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 6/2013/ND-CP dated July 16, 2013 defining the functions, tasks, power and organizational structure of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;
At the request of Director General of Vietnam Cinema Department,
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism promulgates this Circular to provide for amendments to a number of articles of the Statutes on appraisal and issuance of film exhibition license which are attached to Decision No. 49/2008/QD-BVHTTDL dated July 09, 2008 of Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Article 1. Point c Clause 1 Article 10 of the Statutes on appraisal and issuance of film release license is amended as follows:
“c) The film exhibition is licensed but the exhibition of films whose contents are not suitable for the psychological and physiological development or cause adverse impact on the age-based personality development to viewers under 13 years of age (C13), or under 16 years of age (C16), or under 18 years of age (C18) is forbidden. The classification of films for age-based exhibition shall be carried out on the basis of criteria mentioned in the Annex herein.”
Article 2. This Circular takes effect as of March 15, 2016.
Article 3. Chief of Ministry’s Office, Director General of Vietnam Cinema Department, Heads of Ministry-affiliated agencies, Directors of Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism of central-affiliated cities or provinces and relevant entities shall implement this Circular./.
MINISTER
Hoang Tuan Anh
ANNEX
CRITERIA FOR FILM CLASSIFICATION FOR AGE-BASED EXHIBITION (Promulgated under the Circular No. 12/2015/TT-BVHTTDL dated December 11, 2015 by
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism)
I. INTEPRETATION OF TERMS
In the Table of film classification criteria, these terms shall be construed as follows:
1. “Frequent use” refers to the fact that similar images, languages and/or sound are repeated many times in a film.
2. “Sexual activities” refer to sexy and erotic acts, sound, languages and gestures which are shown in a film for the purpose of sexual gratification.
3. “Detailed portrayal” refers to the use of close-up, direct, detailed, clear and sharp sound and images to describe about people, scenes and/or actions in a film.
4. “Crude language, sound and image” refers to dialogues, scripts, sound and/or images used in a film in an obscene, improper and uncultured manner.
5. “Prolonged duration" refers to the length of time for which the images, language and sound are shown in a film longer than the necessary degree.
II. TABLE OF FILM CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA
No. Film ratings Film classification criteria
1 P a) Theme, contents
Films are
exhibited to the
public and
suitable for
everyone
- The film’s theme is suitable for viewers of all ages;
- The film’s content includes issues in terms of nature and society for the purpose of entertainment, education and promotion of positive moral values and social relations.
b) Violence
Images, sound and language which are portrayals of threat or menace are not acceptable, except for the cases where such images, sound and language are used in a mild degree and justified by context.
c) Nudity, sex
- Nudity
Nudity is not allowed, except for discreet portrayal of nudity of male upper body and/or female back which do not have improper tattoos in non-sexual context.
- Sex
Images, sound and language describing sexual activities are not allowed.
d) Drug, stimulants, narcotic substances
Images, sound and language showing the use of drug and stimulants or narcotic substances are not allowed.
The tobacco use in film shall be governed by regulations in the Circular No. 02/2014/TT-BVHTTDL dated May 14, 2014 of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism providing for the restriction on tobacco use in theatrical and cinematographic works.
dd) Horror
Images, sound and language showing horror scenes are not allowed, except for images, sound and language are used in a mild degree and do not cause adverse influence on the children’s psychological development and health.
e) Crude images, sound and language
e) The use of crude images, sound and language is not allowed.
2 C13
Films are not
suitable for
viewers under 13
years of age.
a) Theme, contents
- The film’s theme is not suitable for viewers under the age of 13;
- The film’s content reflects issues that cause adverse influence on awareness and feelings of viewers under the age of 13, make them suffer from psychological disorder or feel worry, pessimistic or discouraged.
b) Violence
Images, sound and language which are detailed, intense and prolonged portrayals of violence such as infliction of pain and injuries or torture are forbidden, except for the cases where such images, sound and language are used in a moderate degree and justified by context.
c) Nudity, sex
- Nudity
Nudity is not allowed, except for the following cases: indirect portrayals of female back nudity or female frontal nudity in non-sexual context; portrayal of female frontal nudity of upper body in non-sexual context or in educational films, and films in terms of issues concerning health, healthcare, life of natives or ethnic minority people.
- Sex
Images, sound and language describing sexual activities are not allowed.
d) Drug, stimulants, narcotic substances
Images, sound and language portraying the use of drug and stimulants or narcotic substances are not allowed, except for the cases where images, sound and language are used for the purpose of accusation or opposition to the use of drug and stimulants or narcotic substances but such portrayals are not detailed, frequent or prolonged.
The tobacco use in film shall be governed by regulations in the Circular No. 02/2014/TT-BVHTTDL dated May 14, 2014 of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism providing for the restriction on tobacco use in theatrical and cinematographic works.
dd) Horror
3 C16
Films are not
suitable for
viewers under 16
years of age.
Images, sound and language portraying horror scenes in a detailed, frequent and prolonged way are not allowed.
e) Crude images, sound and language
The use of crude images, sound and language is not allowed.
a) Theme, contents
- The film’s theme is not suitable for viewers under the age of 16;
- The film’s content has stronger portrayals of mature issues in terms of politics, society, psychology and crime but it is not suitable for psychophysiological and cognitive development of viewers under the age of 16.
b) Violence
Images, sound and language which are frequently used with prolonged duration to portray violence such as killings, infliction of pain and injuries and/or details of blood and gore, except for the cases where such images, sound and language are justified by context and used in a moderately intense degree.
c) Nudity, sex
- Nudity
Detailed, frequent and prolonged portrayals of nudity are not allowed, except for the following cases: portrayals of male and female back nudity or female frontal nudity of upper body in non-sexual context provided that the nude areas do not have improper tattoos.
- Sex
Images, sound and language which are portrayals of sexual activities are not allowed, except for the cases where such portrayals are justified by context but are not detailed, frequent and prolonged.
d) Drug, stimulants, narcotic substances
Images, sound and language portraying the trafficking, storage and/or use of drug and stimulants or narcotic substances are not allowed, except for the cases where such portrayals are justified by context for the purpose of accusation or opposition to the said acts but are not detailed, frequent or prolonged.
4 C18
Films are not
suitable for
viewers under 18
years of age.
The tobacco use in film shall be governed by regulations in the Circular No. 02/2014/TT-BVHTTDL dated May 14, 2014 of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism providing for the restriction on tobacco use in theatrical and cinematographic works.
dd) Horror
Images, sound and language which are detailed, frequent and prolonged portrayals of horror and frightful sequences that are likely to cause fear and anxiety are not allowed, except for the cases where such portrayals are necessary for the film’s contents and suitable for age groups.
e) Crude language, sound and image
The use of crude images, sound and language is not allowed, except for swear words or slangs which are used by negative characters and suitable for the film’s content but they are not obscene, do not cause harm to people and community, are not frequently used and are not used for the purpose of sexual harassment or abuse.
a) Theme
- The film’s theme is not suitable for viewers under the age of 18;
- The film’s content has portrayals of mature issues in terms of politics, society, psychology and/or sexual crimes, etc. but it is not suitable for psychophysiological and cognitive development of viewers under the age of 18.
b) Violence
Images, sound and language which are realistic depiction of violence and cause strong impact on viewers, except for the cases where such images, sound and language are suitable for the film’s content but they are not excessively exploited.
c) Nudity, sex
- Nudity
Full nudity is not allowed, except for the cases where the full nudity is suitable for the film's content but it does not include detailed portrayal of genitalia, does not have improper tattoos and prolonged duration.
- Sex
Images, sound and language which are explicit and detailed portrayals
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of sexual activities are not allowed, except for the cases where such images, sound and language are suitable for the film’s content and are not prolonged.
d) Drug, stimulants, narcotic substances
Images, sound and language portraying the trafficking, storage and/or use of drug and stimulants or narcotic substances are not allowed, except for the cases where such images, sound and language are suitable for the film’s content or used for the purpose of accusation or opposition to the said acts but are not detailed and prolonged.
The tobacco use in film shall be governed by regulations in the Circular No. 02/2014/TT-BVHTTDL dated May 14, 2014 of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism providing for the restriction on tobacco use in theatrical and cinematographic works.
dd) Horror
Images, sound and language which are detailed, frequent and prolonged portrayals of horror and frightful sequences that are likely to cause fear and anxiety are not allowed, except for the cases where such portrayals are necessary for the film’s contents and suitable for age groups.
e) Crude language, sound and image
The use of crude images, sound and language is not allowed, except for certain swear words or slangs in dialogues and scripts used in a degree stronger than those used in rating-C16 films.
Unofficial translated by LPVN