Film. Kunst. Verbot.

This study critically examines the ban on certain depictions of violence under German criminal law (§ 131 StGB) and its legal application with regard to feature films both from a legal and a film studies perspective. In doing so, it outlines an interdisciplinary point of view. It examines the legal and historical backgrounds as well as the specific banning practice, for which the relevant court decisions could be systematically evaluated for the first time, combining this with a detailed analysis of correspondingly banned films. In this way, it is able to determine the normative-ideological substantiation of the ban on cinematic depictions of violence while positioning those depictions as a legitimate contribution within cultural discourse.