Today, we had our rescheduled IFCO visit. This was definitely one of my favorite visits as it directly aligned with my major. We learned about how they classify films in Ireland, which is a very interesting process. They classify films based on four categories – violence, drugs, sexual content, and language. Based on these categories, a film will get a classifcation of either G, PG, 12A, 15A, 16, or 18. It was really interesting to see how certain films classified differently in Ireland than in the US. What is deemed mature or offensive in different cultures is very fascinating to think about.
Then we got a watch and classify a short film – The Golden West. They chose this film because it was a disputed film amongst the IFCO team in terms of what its classification should be. The short was really good. Well-made, well-shot, well-acted. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was interesting thinking about its classification. It touched on many mature themes and had some rather violent imagery, but in actuality nothing truly violent was shown and nothing was gratuitious. The rest of the group seemed a bit shocked that it was rated higher, but to me, I understood it and didn’t think it was that out there in terms of its content.
