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The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) has not yet classified the action film Citizen Vigilante, a spokesman for the organisation confirmed to Gript, following news that German authorities effectively banned the thriller over its alleged promotion of violence against migrants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVxmjwaPEFU
Portraying an American army veteran, Sanders, living in an unspecified European country and hunting down migrant criminals protected by a left-leaning justice system the film has sparked immediate political debate in Germany.
The film stars Armie Hammer in the lead role and was denied classification by German authorities earlier this month for allegedly promoting racist vigilantism, effectively preventing its release in the country.
Film director, Uwe Boll, quickly blamed a witch hunt by Germany’s film ratings body, the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (FSK), arguing that the agency was misusing guidelines intended to protect minors in order to suppress his film.
Originally scheduled for release in Germany on June 19, the film now carries a “KK” classification (meaning kein Kennzeichen, or no age rating) making it commercially undistributable in Germany despite a successful release in the United States and Canada.
Boll, public in his conservative views and best known for directing a string of action and genre films over the past two decades, accused the FSK of “political censorship” in an open letter published by Berliner Zeitung. The director further claimed the ratings body was attempting to “deny reality” and compared the film’s level of violence to that of the John Wick franchise.
The director also said the film was partly inspired by a 2016 rape case in Hamburg involving a 15-year-old girl and nine migrant men, in which he claimed leniency was shown to the perpetrators largely because of their status.
Following the German classification decision, tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk allowed the film to be streamed on the social media platform, in a move that comes as the social media site previously known as X prepares to battle EU authorities over allegedly promoting hate speech and misinformation.
Speaking over email to Gript Boll emphasised his wish to get Citizen Vigilante to Irish theatres screens explaining “The UK rights are sold and Ireland also and we hope every day for a rating – so that it can get released.”
Under Irish law, a film is effectively barred from ordinary cinema exhibition if the Director of Film Classification refuses to certify it.
The Censorship of Films Act 1923 states that no film may be publicly exhibited unless it has been certified as fit for public exhibition. Irish bans have historically included films such as A Clockwork Orange, The Life of Brian, and Natural Born Killers, though film censorship has become far rarer in recent decades.
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