TAMARA DREWE

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TAMARA DREWE is a film about a young woman who returns to her home town and ruffles feathers within the community. It was classified '15' for very strong language, strong sex and sex references.

At '15' the BBFC's Guidelines state that 'There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable'. During TAMARA DREWE there is one clear use of very strong language, which is said by a teenage girl. It occurs as she talks to her friend about a character not present in the scene, and is delivered without any aggression. There is also a mouthed use of very strong language which is made inaudible by the noise in a scene. The film also contains over thirty uses of

The Guidelines at '15' state that 'Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail'. Throughout the film there is occasional sight of nudity, such as when Tamara is seen lying naked on her bed with her buttocks visible. Other scenes also feature her naked, but without any strong detail - for instance any clear sight of her breasts is obscured.

The Guidelines at '15' state that 'Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context'. The strong sex in the film includes a scene in which a man thrusts into a woman during sex, and in another sequence a character takes off her knickers and lies on a counter as a man stands in front of her just prior to offscreen sex. However neither of these scenes contain any strong visual detail. The verbal sex references include a teenage schoolgirl fantasising about a man licking her "teapot lids", and elsewhere she makes a reference to her "v-plates melting". She also fantasies about lying on a bed with a man entering the room before lifting her into his arms, but the scene ends before any sexual activity takes place.

The film contains a brief verbal reference to a character having grown marijuana in the past, while there is occasional sight of characters (including teenage girls) smoking cigarettes.

In one scene, two characters fantasise that another may have tried to commit suicide and this is represented by a vision of the would-be victim lying on the floor beside a bottle of pills, with vomit on her clothing. However this is merely a fantasy, with the character in question not carrying out such an act.

This film was originally shown to the BBFC in an unfinished version. The BBFC advised the company that the film was likely to receive an '18' classification but that the requested '15 certificate could be achieved by making cuts to remove two aggressive uses of very strong language. When the finished version of the film was submitted, these aggressive uses of very strong language had been removed and the film was classified '15'.