Agenda and minutes

Councillor Zafran Nawaz Khan – unwell.

Councillor Matt Shannon – work commitments.

None.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 20 June 2023.

The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2023 and they were signed by the Chair.

Report of Director of Communities, Environment, and Resident Services (CERS)

Gary Barwell, Licensing Officer, presented the report asking the Committee to decide the classification of the film to be screened at one Nottingham venue which is not classified for cinema viewing by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The following points were highlighted:

(a)  The film has been classified ‘18’ for home viewing by the BBFC, but a classification for cinematic viewing had not been requested of the BBFC;

(b)  The applicant intends for the film to be shown at Broadway Cinema, 14-18 Broad Street, Nottingham, NG1 3AL, on the 5 December 2023. Broadway is already licensed to exhibit films, and a mandatory condition in its licence requires that the admission of children under the age of 18 to film exhibitions shall be restricted in accordance with the recommendations made by the BBFC, or by the Licensing Authority where no classification certificate has been issued by the BBFC; 

(c)  Failure to recommend a classification would mean that the film could not be shown to the public in a cinema in Nottingham without a criminal offence being committed;

(d)  Members of the Committee were provided with a copy of the BBFC classification guidance, and viewed the film in its entirety in a private session prior to the Committee meeting.

In the discussion which followed, and in response to questions from the Committee, the following points were raised:

(e)  ’20 Days in Mariupol’ has already been classified by other Licensing Authorities, in London, Bristol, and elsewhere, and has won a number of prestigious prizes, including at the Sundance Film Festival and the Critic’s Choice Award;

(f)  Members of the Committee agreed that it is an important film to exhibit in the City, exposing the impact of war on civilian populations;

(g)  Broadway Cinema is known to have appropriate procedures in place to prevent younger people from viewing films that are not classified as appropriate for their age;

(h)  The Committee and the applicant agreed that the nature of the content of the film make an ‘18’ classification appropriate as per the BBFC guidelines.

Resolved that the Committee recommends an ‘18’ classification for cinematic exhibition of the film ’20 Days in Mariupol’.