Tuesday December 2nd 2025
Screen 1 at the Edinburgh Filmhouse (photo by Alastair McCrum
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
Consideration of revising laws around how cinemas screening films that have not been certified for age-appropriateness should be considered, according to Edinburgh city councillors.
Edinburgh’s regulatory boss, Liberal Democrat councillor Neil Ross, will write to the Scottish Government to ask for the scrutiny after a decision by the city’s regulatory committee.
The move was sparked by discussion over how the council handles requests by cinemas to screen films which have not been certified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
At present, any screening requests for uncertified films in the city have to go before the council’s licensing sub-committee for sign-off.
Councillors had called for city licensing staff to explore how the Filmhouse cinema on Lothian Road could sign off on films by itself.
Additionally, they wanted officers to explore how the process could be made for other cinemas hoping to screen uncertified films.
They said that this would hopefully save committee time, and lift the pressures the policy places on venues in the city to plan well ahead when deciding what to screen.
Suggestions included having council officers approve or reject films themselves rather than councillors in the committee.
But officers submitted a report to Monday’s regulatory committee meeting which stated that change to the way the system works was not possible.
They said that the council could not allow the Filmhouse to sign off on films by itself due to the inability of the city to assign regulatory powers to another body.
And they added that council officers ‘do not have the skills’ to judge the age-appropriateness of films.
Officers suggested that the Filmhouse could have a less difficult time with the approvals process by only showing non-certified films to those over the age of 18.
Or, they said, the venue could ‘plan ahead’ when scheduling films to accommodate the need for approval by a committee meeting.
A bid by SNP councillors on the committee to have officers take up consideration of uncertified films despite the contents of the report was rejected by a five to three vote.
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