18+ movies are allowed to be shown in theaters from 2017

Films banned for viewers under 18 years old are included in the Criteria List for classifying films for distribution by age group, recently approved by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

From January 1, 2017, Vietnam will apply a new age-based film classification criteria table consisting of four levels:P (films allowed to be widely distributed to all audiences), C13 (films prohibited from being distributed to audiences under the age of 13), C16 (Films prohibited for audiences under the age of 16) and C18 (Films prohibited for distribution to audiences under the age of 18.Film classification is based on criteria such as theme, content, level of violence, nudity, sex, drugs, foul language and horror contained in the film.

A scene from the movie "Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere".

In the C18 category, the film's theme must be suitable for audiences over 18 years old. The film's content reflects adult issues, such as issues related to politics, society, psychology, and sex crimes, but is suitable for the perception, psychology, and physiology of audiences over 18 years old.Nudity and sexual violence in C18 films must be appropriate to the content of the work, and must not be prolonged or repeated excessively. C18 films accept realistic scenes of violence and bloodshed, but must be appropriate to the context of the work. In addition, vulgar language, culturally sensitive language such as swearing, cursing, or slang, filler words that may offend viewers may appear.

Especially 18+ worksAll images, sounds, and language depicting the trading, storage, and use of drugs and addictive stimulants are prohibited, except in cases where such images, sounds, and language are consistent with the film's content or are intended to protest and condemn the above acts but do not describe them in detail or for a long time.

With the same criteria, C16, C13 and P films have a decreasing level of depiction of violence, sex, horror, stimulants and addictive substances, and offensive obscene language, appropriate for the age. P films (for all ages) do not have scenes of violence, nudity, sex, scenes of the use or production of stimulants, drugs or horror scenes that scare children.

Foreign films imported into Vietnamese theaters will be adjusted to conform to the new popularity criteria.

The new criteria table for classifying films for dissemination by age group was developed by the Department of Cinema in coordination with many agencies over nearly three years.

In September 2015, the Cinema Department held a final workshop to review this draft with the participation of representatives of production and distribution companies and the press.The final classification criteria table interprets the terms “frequent occurrence,” “extended duration,” “sexual activity,” “detailed descriptions,” and “Vulgar language, sounds, and images” differently than the draft released in September 2015. In the previous draft,18+ movies require that the number of nude and sex scenes in each movie must not exceed three times and each "hot" scene must only last less than five seconds.

In the approved Classification Criteria Table, the term"Frequent occurrence" is interpreted as similar images, language, and sounds appearing multiple times in a film. "Sexual activity" is the action, sound, word, and provocative, stimulating gesture shown in the film to satisfy sexual needs. "Detailed description" is the level of use of clear, direct, detailed images and sounds at close range to describe people, scenes, and actions in the film. "Vulgar language, sounds, and images" are lines, writings, sounds, and images used in the film that express obscenity, offensiveness, and lack of culture. "Extended duration" is the period of time in which images, language, and sounds are shown in the film more than necessary.

Ms. Ngo Phuong Lan, Director of the Cinema Department, also shared: "This film classification table is based on the Singapore Film Classification Table. The Singapore film classification model is both detailed and strict, has an Asian character, and is suitable for Vietnamese culture." In addition to being based on the Singapore Film Classification Table, the Cinema Department also consulted the classification tables of the US, UK, and Australia to complete it.

The current film classification system in use in Vietnam only labels films at two levels - films that are widely distributed and films that are prohibited for children under 16 years old. According to the Director of the Cinema Department, Ms. Ngo Phuong Lan, this criteria system causes difficulties for the national film censorship board because there are films that only need to limit children under 13 years old but are still prohibited for audiences under 16 years old because there are no detailed levels. On the contrary, 18+ films purchased to Vietnam also make censors confused because there are no regulations.

According to VNE