Kevin Rockett

Emer Rockett

This book maps the history of Irish film censorship from its origins in the 1910s, through to the all-encompassing Censorship of Films Act 1923, the more liberal implementation of screening policies from the late 1960s onwards, and present-day concerns about media proliferation and distribution. Its main focus is on the 1920-70 period, when Irish film censors banned 3,000 films and cut an additional 10,000. The role of political censorship and its effect on television and cinema is examined, as are the more contemporary issues of video classification and debates around the internet and child pornography. Through the examination of over 18,000 of the censors decisions, Kevin Rockett provides an invaluable insight into the cultural geography of Ireland. - Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2005

A Cultural Journey from Silent Cinema to Internet Pornography

Irish Film Censorship

This book is the first volume in a two-volume set on the history of cinema in Ireland from the 18th century to the present day (the second companion volume is titled Film Exhibition and Distribution in Ireland, 1909-2010). What the book demonstrates is that prior to cinema there were already huge numbers of people in Ireland, from all classes, who regularly enjoyed proto-cinematic experiences through such entertainments as the magic lantern, or slide projector; the immersive large-scale paintings known as panoramas; and tableaux vivants, or theatrical-posed static representations of paintings, statues, and events. Without these entertainments - many developed by Irish inventors and pioneers - not only would cinema's moving-pictures have been unimaginable, but so, too, would the cinema space itself and the distribution of film. Ultimately, the book is offered as a contribution towards a deeper understanding of popular visual culture (and its intersection with science) in Ireland from the 18th-century onwards. *** "Kevin Rockett and Emer Rockett's book is a richly researched, engaging...picture of visual and optical entertainments in Ireland, ranging from the first phantasmagoria shows in the 1790s to the establishment of the first purpose-built cinemas....The authors build on recent work influenced by the idea that the site of an exhibition helped determine not only how it took place, but the meanings it produced and the experience of its audience." - Victorian Studies, Vol. 56, No. 1, Autumn 2014~

Emer Rockett

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